Atlantic 10 Conference
Atlantic 10 Conference
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Joe DiPietro Named Head Softball Coach At Temple

7/17/2008 - DiPietro, who spent the last six seasons as the head softball coach at La Salle University, has been named the head softball coach at Temple University

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Brandice Balschmiter Named Easton Second-Team All-American

- 6/4/2008 - Balschmiter has now earned All-America honors in each of her three seasons at UMass

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Fordham's Mary Beth Puccio Named First-Team Academic All-America

- 5/28/2008 - Laura Matthews of Dayton and Brianna Bricker from St. Bonaventure earn second-team honors

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UMass Falls To Stanford In NCAA Softball Regional Final

- 5/18/2008 - Minutewomen downed Stanford, 2-1, before dropping a 6-0 decision in regional final

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UMass Softball Edges #8 Stanford, 2-1; Teams Face In Regional Final At 2:30 PM

- 5/18/2008 - The two teams will play at 2:30 for a shot at the Super Regionals

A-10 Player of the Year
Brooke Darreff - Saint Joseph's
Sophomore, Catcher, Hartsville, Pa./Central Bucks South HS

Darreff finished the season with a .462 batting average, good for fourth nationally...also ranked ninth nationally in on-base percentage (.536) and was 39th in the nation in doubles per game (0.31)...reached base safely in 38 of 42 games played and batted .500 with runners in scoring position and .765 with a runner at third and less than two outs.

A-10 Pitcher of the Year
Brandice Balschmiter - Massachusetts
Junior, Pitcher, Newark, N.Y./Newark HS

Balschmiter, garnered her third-straight A-10 Pitcher of the Year award, and finished the A-10 Championship with the nation's lowest earned run average at 0.54...appeared in 38 games while tossing 17 shutouts and five no-hitters, including two perfect games...has held opponents to a .141 batting average and has currently recorded 23 wins in a row...named the A-10 Pitcher of the Week a league-record nine times and set a UMass record with 14 strikeouts in a five-inning game against Temple on Apr. 13...just the second player in league history to earn three Pitcher of the Year honors, joining former Massachusetts standout Danielle Henderson (1997-99) as the only players to hold that distinction.

A-10 Rookie of the Year
Lindsay Maroney - Massachusetts
Freshman, Designated Player, Bradford, Mass./Phillips Academy

Maroney has had an impressive rookie campaign for the nationally-ranked Minutewomen..ranks second on the squad in both batting average (.374) and slugging percentage (.593)...has two grand slams on the year and is 7-for-9 in stolen base attempts... freshman is hitting .500 with the bases loaded and .500 with two outs.

A-10 Coach of the Year
Elaine Sortino - Massachusetts
28th Season

Now in her 28th year at Massachusetts, Sortino has made winning a habit...has earned the A-10 Coach of the Year award an unprecedented nine times, this time for leading her Minutewomen to their 20th A-10 regular season title, a perfect 20-0 record in Conference play and earning her 1,000th career win...became just the 11th coach in NCAA history and eighth in Division I annals to reach the 1,000- win plateau...under her direction, UMass enters the NCAA Championship riding a 29-game winning streak.