Maine's Ashley Waters (Amesbury, Mass./Amesbury) has been named America East Player of the Week for the second-straight week. Her teammate Jessica Ghazali (Waimanalo, Hawaii/University) receives America East Pitcher of the Week honors. UMBC's Amanda Fefel (Baltimore, Md./Catonsville) rounds of the week's top honors earning America East Rookie of the Week. The awards were announced Monday (March 12).
Waters earns her second-straight weekly accolade as she batted .361 (13-of-36) with 11 runs scored, two doubles and seven runs batted in. In addition, she was 5-of-7 in stolen base opportunities.
Ghazali helped the Black Bears to seven wins last week as she posted a 5-1 record, including five-straight to start the week. She posted a 3.86 ERA with 14 strikeouts.
Fefel made an immediate impact in the opening week for the Retrievers hitting .333 (6-for-18) with a home run and three RBI at the plate, and going 1-1 with a 1.81 ERA in 12.2 innings, striking out 14 and allowing just one earned run on the mound. Fefel hit her first collegiate home run against St. Francis (Pa.) on Saturday, and she allowed just one earned run against Bucknell on Sunday, striking out six in 5.2 innings.
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTEBOOKS
Albany Great Danes
UAlbany (9-4, 0-0 America East) posted a 5-1 record to finish second at the Winthrop Tournament... The Great Danes defeated Elon, 5-4, and UNC-Wilmington, 6-5, on Friday before claiming victories over North Carolina A&T, 13-3, and Campbell, 3-2, on Saturday... UAlbany advanced to the championship game on Sunday by beating Gardner-Webb, 4-2... The Great Danes fell in the final game of the weekend, a 5-2 defeat at the hands of Radford... Freshman second baseman Michelle Connors (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa) and senior pitcher Casey Halloran (East Greenbush, N.Y./Columbia) were both named to the all-tournament team for their efforts... The highlight of Connors’ weekend came in the Great Danes win over Gardner-Webb, when she hit a three-run homer which scored the winning run... Halloran earned a 3-1 record, tossing three complete games... She struck out 21 batters in 24.0 innings of work, recording 11 strikeouts in the win over Elon... She also tossed three scoreless innings of relief against Gardner-Webb and fanned six opposing batters and allowed just one earned run against Campbell... The Great Danes will return to tournament play next weekend, as they will face Sacred Heart, Norfolk, Marist and Monmouth at Delaware State’s Bash at the Beach.
Binghamton Bearcats
Binghamton (2-9, 0-0 America East) went 2-4 at the Norfolk State Dixie Classic this past weekend, winning two of its last four games ... senior catcher Mia Bieman (Wingham, Ontario/Briancliff CC) hit two home runs, including a grand slam in the Bearcats' 16-0 win over Niagara on Sunday... The 16 runs is the most scored by Binghamton since it defeated Maryland-Eastern Shore (UMES) 17-0 on March 13, 2004 ... on the mound against Niagara, sophomore pitcher Cyrilla Suker (Vooreheesville, N.Y./UMass Lowell) tossed a three-hit shutout and struck out a season-high 12 batters. She won both her starts this past weekend, struck out 22 batters and did not allow an earned run.
Boston University Terriers
Boston University (9-4, 0-0 America East) picked up two wins against St. Joseph’s on Sunday morning in Tampa, Fla... In the first game of the doubleheader, the Terriers mounted a 6-5 comeback in the seventh inning and in the second game, the Terriers’ second-inning, seven-run outburst helped lift the squad to a 14-5 victory... In game one, the Terriers trailed by three runs heading into the bottom of the fourth inning, when they sprung for four runs to take their first lead of the game... St. Joseph’s came back in the seventh with two runs to reclaim the lead; however, sophomore Melissa Dubay’s (Auburn, Wash./Auburn Riverside) two-run walk-off triple sealed the victory... In the second game of the doubleheader, freshman starter Megan Currier (Torrance, Calif./Torrance) earned her first collegiate victory on the mound... Boston U. got off to an early 7-0 lead in the second inning and never relented... Highlights of the game included freshman Shayna Heron (Auburn, Mass./Auburn) and sophomore Nora Militz’s (Arlington Heights, Ill./Rolling Meadows) first collegiate hits.
Hartford Hawks
Hartford (2-6, 0-0 America East) opened play at the Rebel Spring Games over the weekend and split games against Lafayette (W, 4-0) and Butler (L, 0-8)... The Hawks got a stellar pitching performance against Lafayette from freshman Brittney Stratton (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville), who earned her first collegiate victory by giving up only four hits in the shutout... She also struck out five while issuing three walks... Hartford got all the offense it would need in a three-run second inning, which was highlighted by a two-run single from sophomore Kristen Cericola (Morton, Pa./Ridley)... Freshman Rachel Clonick (Hilton, N.Y./Hilton) leads the team with a .444 batting average and has four RBI and two homers on the season... The Hawks will play eight more games while in Kissimmee, Fla. to round out the Rebel Spring Games. Hartford will face Dayton, Columbia, George Washington, Colgate, Fairleigh Dickinson, Manhattan, Yale and Mississippi Valley State this week.
Maine Black Bears
Maine (13-9, 0-0 America East) went 7-6 this week, including facing a pair of nationally-ranked teams in No. 25 Florida State and No. 18 Southern Illinois in the FSU Invitational on Saturday ... Freshman Alexis Souhlaris (Derry, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) led Maine offensively as she batted .405 for the week with a double and six runs batted in... Sophomore Ashley Waters (Amesbury, Mass./Amesbury) batted .361 with three doubles, 11runs scored and seven RBIs... It marked the second-straight week she drove in seven runs...Souhlaris was 11-for-12 in stolen base opportunities, while Waters was 5-for-7... Freshman pitcher Jessica Ghazali (Waimanalo, Hawaii/University) earned her first collegiate win and started the week with a 5-0 mark... She finished the week with a 5-1 reccord and a 3.86 ERA... She struck out 14, while walking just four batters.
UMBC Retrievers
UMBC notes coming soon.
Stony Brook
Stony Brook (7-6, 0-0 America East) went 1-3 at the St. Mary's (CA) tournament in Moraga, Calif. this past weekend... After dropping games to Utah Valley State, 10-4 and St. Mary's (CA), 2-1, Stony Brook topped Idaho State, 4-2 for head coach Megan T. Bryant's 500th career victory... The Seawolves scored four runs in the top of the first inning... Christina Voth (Orange, Calif./Lutheran) picked up the victory going five innings. Sarah Hoffman (Commack, N.Y./Commack) picked up the save with two scoreless innings... Stony Brook ended the tournament with a 9-8 loss to host St. Mary's (CA)... The Seawolves jumped out to an 8-2 lead after three and a half innings but the Gaels scored seven runs from the fourth inning on to come back with a victory... Ashley Westphal (Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison) and Kelsi Fanelli (Audubon, N.J./Audubon) were named to the all-tournament team... Stony Brook continues its tournament play with a trip to Long Island-rival Hofstra at the Hofstra Invitational... Also participating in the tournament are St. John's and East Carolina.
Vermont Catamounts
Vermont (2-10, 0-0 America East) went 1-1 on the week as the Catamounts open 10 straight in Orlando, Fla. as part of the Rebel Spring Games... UVM won its opener on Sunday, downing George Washington 3-1 behind a three-hitter from junior Aimee Kern (Wrentham, Mass./King Philip)... Kern struck out 14 batters in the contest and scored a run... Senior Kate Ramsey (Littleton, N.H./Profile) had two hits, a RBI and a run scored in the game... Senior Annie O’Brien (St. James, N.Y./Smithtown) also had two hits in the contest... The Catamounts lost the second game of the day to Colgate, 6-1... Junior Sarah Toczylowski (Reading, Mass./Reading Memorial) went 3-for-4 with a RBI, while Kern was 2-for-4... Vermont has eight more games on tap this week in the Sunshine State.