Early season-ending injury to McGuinness
hurt Corsairs' 2000 softball season

(Dartmouth, MA) -Heading into the 2000 softball season, UMass Dartmouth coach Marilyn Ritz was counting heavily on junior infielder and co-captain Jen McGuinness (E. Taunton, MA). As one of the Corsairs key returning veteran players on a relatively young team, McGuinness was going to be the player the Corsairs would depend on for the season.

Before UMass Dartmouth finished its first week of the season, the Corsairs hopes for the year took a major turn for the worse when McGuinness was lost with a season-ending injury. In the only two games in which she appeared, McGuinness had six hits in seven at bats, an RBI and a run scored.

The Corsairs played well during their annual trip to Florida, posting wins over Elms College, Suffolk University and Lasell College to go 3-5 on the trip. But once the team returned to New England and a competitive Little East Conference and non-conference schedule, the loss of McGuinness had an impact on the Corsairs. UMass Dartmouth finished its season with a 6-28 record and a 2-12 mark in the Little East Conference.

The 2000 season was not without some individual highlights from a group of newcomers to the Corsairs' program. First-year infielder Jinneane Sperrazza (Mansfield, MA) took over as the Corsairs' offensive leader, going 21-62 with 9 RBI and 11 runs scored to go along with a .339 team-leading batting average. First-year outfielder Allison Collins (Northbridge, MA) had a team-high 31 hits in 104 at bats for a .298 batting average with 9 runs scored and 7 RBI . First-year outfielder Bridget Donahue (Clinton, MA) hit .250 (20-80) with 7 runs scored and 9 walks. First-year catcher Lauren Johnson (W. Boylston, MA) hit .235 with 19 hits and a team-leading 10 RBI. First-year infielder Amy Morgardo (Stoughton, MA) was tied for third in hits with 20 and added 8 RBI and led the Corsairs with 13 runs scored.

Junior co-captain and pitcher Erika Roderiques (Freetown, MA) was the other Corsair veteran UMass Dartmouth was leaning on for the 2000 season and she came through with another workhorse effort on the mound. Despite a 3-17 record, she had a 3.94 earned run average in 23 games, including 20 starts. Roderiques pitched 16 complete games and appeared in 117 innings, walking 24 and striking out 49.

One of the season's biggest highlights was the development of first-year pitcher Mindy Perruzzi (Tiverton, RI). One year after Roderiques carried virtually the entire pitching load, Perruzzi turned in an impressive rookie season, appearing in 18 games and 85 innings for UMass Dartmouth. Perruzzi had a 3-11 record with a 3.62 earned run average and 11 complete games. She walked 20 batters and struck out 56, averaging 4.61 strikeouts per game, fourth best among LEC pitchers for the season.

Roderiques and Perruzzi combined their efforts to produce the Corsairs' only doubleheader sweep of the season, a 2-0 and 4-2 win over LEC rival UMass Boston on April 11. In the opener, Roderiques turned in her best game of the season, holding UMass Boston to one hit in the shutout victory. Roderiques had three strikeouts and a walk, while also going 1-2 at the plate. In the second game, Perruzzi came close to matching Roderiques� effort, allowing only two runs on three hits with 5 strikeouts and 2 walks in a 4-2 win.

Earlier in the season, Perruzzi had her best outing, shutting out Elms College at the Cusick Classic in Fort Myers, Florida. Perruzzi threw a one-hitter, striking out 4 and walking