University at Albany’s Ali Meacham (Monroe, N.Y./Monrow-Woodbury) and UMBC’s Melanie Denischuk (Poway, Calif./Carstairs, Alberta/Indian River CC/Auburn) share this week’s America East Player of the Week honors. Albany’s Casey Halloran (East Greenbush, N.Y./Columbia) and University of Maine’s Sarah Bennis (Pownal, Maine/Greely) share Pitcher of the Week honors, while UMBC’a Krista Kearns (Sante Fe Springs, Calif./Sante Fe) is the America East Rookie of the Week. The accolades were announced Monday (March 13).
Meacham leads the Great Danes with a .526 batting average and 12 RBI in eight games this season, and is also one off the team lead with two home runs. The senior catcher was a perfect 6-6 at the plate in the first three games of Delaware State’s Hornet Classic, with a double, triple and two home runs in that stretch. Against Mount St. Mary’s (March 11), she drove in four runs with a single, double and home run. Her 12 RBI this season are on pace to shatter her previous career high of 15, set in 2005. She is also one home run away from tying her career high of three, also set last season.
Denischuk leads the Retrievers with 27 RBI, 22 hits, six home runs and 42 total bases. This past weekend at the Dawg Pound Tournament, she hit .562 (9-for-16) with 11 RBI, 16 total bases, four runs scored and two home runs in six games, with a 1.000 slugging percentage and a .579 on-base average. She also drove in the game-winning run with a double against St. Francis (Pa.) in the tournament championship game. In last weekend’s Kickoff Classic, she came through in the clutch, driving in seven runs with a double and a home run in five games.
Halloran leads Albany pitchers this season with a 5-0 record and a 0.90 ERA. On Sunday, March 12, she became the first pitcher in Albany Division I history to hurl a perfect game, shutting out Delaware State in the championship game of the Hornet Classic. She tallied 12 strikeouts against Hornet batters, and is averaging 0.90 strikeouts per inning. She did not allow a run in her three appearances at the Hornet Classic and only allowed two hits in that stretch.
Bennis has been one of the reason for Maine's best start in school history. In her seven starts this season Bennis has pitched six or more innings. She has had five or more strikeouts in five of her eight starts this season and has recorded three shutouts this season. Against UT-Chattanooga she had her best start of the short season going seven innings, giving up only one hit, no runs and eight strikeouts. Bennis has also recorded two saves on the season.
Kearns is the top pitcher for UMBC with 36 strikeouts and ranks second with a 1.79 ERA. She pitched her first career no-hitter in UMBC’s Kickoff Classic championship game win over Delaware State, striking out seven and walking two in six innings. She picked up her first career save in the season-opening UNCW Seahawk Classic, a 7-5 win over Delaware State, in which she struck out the side in one inning of work. She struck out eight for the complete game shutout of Vermont on March 11 at the UMBC Dawg Pound Tournament to earn the victory, allowing just two hits and three walks. Kearns has also gotten the job done with the bat, hitting .438, and she smashed a pinch-hit home run, the first homerun of her career, in UMBC’s win over St. Francis (Pa.) on March 10 at the UMBC Dawg Pound Tournament.