UMBC's Krista Kearns (Santa Fe Springs, Calif./Santa Fe) and Boston University's Melissa Dubay (Auburn, Wash./Auburn Riverside) have been named America East Co-Players of the Week. Kearns' teammate Ashley Gray (Pasadena, Md./Northeast/Delaware State) earns America East Pitcher of the Week, while Dubay's teammate Rachel Moeller (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) receives America East Rookie of the Week. The awards were announced Tuesday (April 17).
Kearns led the Retrievers to a perfect 6-0 week with a team-best eight hits and .571 average (8-for-14). She cracked three home runs, a double and a triple for 20 total bases and a 1.429 slugging percentage, and she drove in seven.
Dubay hit .786 over four games. She was 7-for-8 in a doubleheader against Maine with seven RBI. Dubay connected on four hits versus Stony Brook. Dubay upped her season batting average to .351 ? the highest of her career.
Gray went a perfect 4-0 on the mound last week. The junior pitcher posted a microscopic 0.25 ERA with 27 strikeouts in 28.0 innings of work. She allowed just two runs (one earned) on 14 hits and eight walks, holding opposing batters to a .149 average, and pitched four complete games. She has not allowed a run in 21 consecutive innings spanning four games. She is the second UMBC pitcher to win America East Pitcher of the Week. Back on March 26, Amanda Fefel earned the honor.
Moeller batted .444 with four hits in nine at bats. She belted two home runs and drove in nine RBI. She broke a 1-1 dealock with a two-run homer in the second inning of a doubleheader with Maine and added all the insurance the Terriers would need as she cracked a three run home run in her next at bat. Moeller becomes the second Boston U. player to win rookie of the week this season. Back on March 5, Rachel Hebert won the award.
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTEBOOKS
Albany Great Danes
UAlbany (20-11, 5-5 America East) went 4-1 last week, sweeping two doubleheaders against America East Conference opponents... The Great Danes defeated Vermont in a twinbill on Wednesday with scores of 3-1 and 9-1, then followed with 8-5 and 4-2 wins over Binghamton on Saturday... The series finale with the Bearcats scheduled for Sunday was postponed due to inclement weather... Freshman pitcher Leah McIntosh tossed two complete games in two starts, posting a 1.65 ERA... She finished with 24 strikeouts after fanning eight against Vermont and 11 at Binghamton... Freshman second baseman Michelle Connors batted .400 in five games last week... Connors went 2-for-3 with three runs scored in the 9-1 win over the Catamounts and recorded one run and on RBI versus Binghamton... Senior third baseman Kelly Ogden recorded two home runs and six RBI last week... The Great Danes will host Manhattan in a non-conference doubleheader on Wednesday at 3 p.m. before continuing America East Conference play this weekend against Hartford.
Binghamton Bearcats
Binghamton's (4-21, 1-9 America East) game against Colgate on Tuesday, April 17 has been cancelled due to the weather... junior third baseman Megan Quinn (Temecula, Calif./ Temecula Valley) and senior outfielder Sarah Eppolito (Syracuse,
N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) each homered in the Bearcats' doubleheader against Colgate this past weekend.
Boston University Terriers
Boston University (24-9, 8-2 America East) swept Maine and split with Stony Brook last week... America East Co-Player of the Week sophomore Melissa Dubay (Auburn, Wash./Auburn Riverside) was 7-for-8 with two triples, one home run and seven RBI and America East Rookie of the Week freshman Rachel Moeller (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) collected four hits with a pair of homers and nine RBI, as Boston U. took two from Maine on Wednesday... Boston U. opened with an 8-1 victory, before cruising to a 15-5 win in the finale... Freshman Megan Currier (Torrance, Calif./Torrance) earned the win in both games... Currier pitched a complete game in the first contest striking out two batters and scattering five hits over seven innings... The Torrance, Calif., native then came in for senior Brittany Detwiler (Souderton, Pa./Souderton Area) in the third inning of game two to earn the victory... Boston U. split with Stony Brook on Saturday afternoon, earning the come-from-behind victory in the opening game, 6-2, before falling, 7-1, in game two... Dubay and Shayne Lotito (Acton, Calif./Vasquez) connected on four hits apiece, while Lotito and sophomore Brooke Hudson (La Porte, Texas/La Porte) each drove in two runs... Lotito, Hudson and freshman Rachel Hebert (Humble, Texas/Humble) recorded homers for the Terriers, as Hebert is just one round-tripper away from tying teammate Chiya Louie’s (Seattle, Wash./Ingraham) freshman home run record... Currier picked up the win in game one improving to 12-2, striking out two batters, issuing one walk and scattering six hits over seven innings of work.
Hartford Hawks
Hartford (15-16, 6-4 America East) went 2-2 in conference action last week, splitting doubleheaders at Stony Brook and against Maine... The Hawks dropped a 9-0 decision to the Seawolves in the first game before bouncing back for a 1-0 win the second... The pattern was the same against the Black Bears, where the Hawks lost 2-1 in the first game before picking up a 5-4 victory in the second... Senior Kristie Rochette (Meriden, Conn./Lyman Hall) drove in the game-winning runs in each of the wins... She singled in the third inning at Stony Brook to plate the game's only run and then snapped a 4-4 tie in the seventh against Maine with an RBI double. She leads the team in batting with a .330 average on the season... Freshman Brittney Stratton (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) went 2-1 and finished with an ERA of 0.86 last week to lead the Hawks... She threw a two-hit shutout (her team-leading fourth of the season) at Stony Brook while striking out seven and walking none. After suffering a 2-1 loss in the opener against Maine, she pitched 3.1 innings of scoreless relief in the second game to pick up the win, allowing only one hit while striking out seven of the 11 batters she faced. She also finished the week with 20 strikeouts and only two walks... Hartford is scheduled to play a doubleheader against Holy Cross on April 17 before heading to Albany for a three-game series on April 21-22.
Maine Black Bears
Maine (18-22, 3-7 America East) went 1-3 last week, including a 2-1 win over Hartford in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader... Freshman infielder Kristen Calvetti (Milford, N.H./Milford) smacked a solo home run in the sixth inning to lift the Black Bears to victory... Senior first baseman Kristie Hawkins (Portland, Maine/Deering) put the Black Bears on top 1-0 earlier in the game with a solo homer of her own... Freshman Erin Iandoli (Worcester, Mass./Notre Dame Academy) smacked a three-run homer in the second game of the doubleheader... For the week, Ashley Waters (Amesbury, Mass./Amesbury) led the team with a .385 batting average and a pair of doubles... Sophomore starting pitcher Jenna Balent (Conifer, Colo./Conifer) earned the win over Hartford by pitching seven innings allowing just one run on six hits with seven strikeouts... Also during the week, freshman Erin Iandoli (Derry, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) tied the school record for stolen bases in a single season with 23... Maine returns to action this weekend with a three-game series at Vermont... The Black Bears will take on the Catamounts in a doubleheader beginning at 12 noon on Saturday, and then conclude the series on Sunday with a single game at 12 noon.
UMBC Retrievers
UMBC (24-8, 9-2 America East) was a perfect 6-0 last week with all six wins coming against America East opponents... The Retrievers have won 10 in a row with a school-record five straight shutouts and have not allowed a run in 30 innings... Junior Ashley Gray (Pasadena, Md./Northeast/Delaware State) has not allowed a run in 21 consecutive innings spanning four games... Gray posted a 4-0 record with a microscopic 0.25 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 28 innings last week... Freshman Amanda Fefel (Baltimore, Md./Catonsville) clubbed three home runs last week, giving her a team-best 10 on the season, which ties UMBC’s rookie record... The Retrievers outscored their opponents 39-2 and hit .351 as a team last week... Sophomore Krista Kearns (Santa Fe Springs, Calif./Santa Fe) led the team with a .571 average and three homers, and had a streak with nine hits in 10 at-bats... During that stretch, Kearns hit three doubles, three homers and eight RBI... The Retrievers hit four home runs in the final game of the series against Albany on Monday, leading them to their first-ever sweep of the two-time defending champs... Gray and Fefel combined to allow just three hits in 10 innings to Binghamton on Wednesday... The Retrievers play host to local rivals Towson (3/17) and Delaware (3/18) in doubleheaders before heading north to take on preseason conference favorite Boston University in a three-game weekend series.
Stony Brook Seawolves
Stony Brook (19-11, 7-3 America East) split doubleheaders against Hartford and Boston University last week... In game one against Hartford, Sara Cerrone (Floral Park, N.Y./Floral Park) hit a three-run homer in the first inning to help lead the Seawolves to a 9-0 win in five innings... Sarah Hoffman (Commack, N.Y./Commack) recorded the win and in doing so picked up career win number 37 which is good for second on the school's all-time career win list... In game two, Alyssa Struzenberg (Cooper City, Fla./Cooper City) struck out a career-high 11 strikeouts but Stony Brook fell, 2-0... In game one of the doubleheader against Boston U., Marissa Fleury (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) hit her sixth home run of the season in a 6-2 loss... Game two featured 11 hits for the Seawolves in a 7-1 victory... Samantha Posey (Nokesville, Va./Briarcliffe) went 2-4 with two doubles and two RBI... Ashley Westphal (Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison), Kelsi Fanelli (Audubon, N.J./Audubon), Fleury and Molly Kestranek (St. Mary's, Ga./Fayetteville-Manilus) all had two hits for Stony Brook... Christina Voth (Orange, Calif./Lutheran) picked up her seventh win of the season... Voth owns a conference-leading 1.64 ERA... Stony Brook has two non-conference doubleheaders against Iona and St. Peter's on Wednesday and Thursday before returning to conference play with a three game set against Binghamton.
Vermont Catamounts
Vermont (9-22, 2-9 America East) went 0-5 on the week ... The Catamounts played their home opener on Wednesday, hosting Albany in doubleheader action after playing their first 26 on the road ... In the opener junior Aimee Kern (Wrentham, Mass./King Philip) only allowed one earned run, but Vermont still fell 3-1 ... The Great Danes also won the second contest of the day 9-1 ... Junior Sarah Toczylowski (Reading, Mass./Reading Memorial) went 3-for-5 in the doubleheader with a home run and two runs batted in ... The Catamounts traveled to UMBC this weekend in a series that was moved to Friday/Saturday due to the weather ... The Retrievers swept Vermont in the three games ... The series finale saw a pitchers duel that entered the seventh scoreless as Kern was the tough-luck loser in the circle in a 1-0 UMBC win ... With 12 strike outs over the weekend, Kern is now only two strike outs away from breaking the UVM school record that is currently held by Katie Quinn ’92 with 406 ... Vermont will return to action next weekend when the Catamounts play host to Maine in a three-game conference set starting with a doubleheader at 12:00pm on Saturday. The two teams will wrap up the series on Sunday with one game at noon.