BOSTON -- Five teams were represented during week six's baseball award winners. Maine's Curt Smith (Willemstad, Curacao/Peter Stuyvesant) and UMBC's Steve Bowen (Pasadena, Md./Catonsville C.C.) have been named America East Co-Players of the Week. Stony Brook's Matt Lyons (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) and Vermont's Bryan Rembisz (Clinton, Conn./Westbrook) collect America East Co-Pitchers of the Week, while Binghamton's Joe Charron (Schaghticoke, N.Y./La Salle Institute) garners the America East Rookie of the Week honors for the second-straight week. The awards were announced Monday (April 2).
Smith (Willemstad, Curacao/Peter Stuyvesant) batted .643 during the weekend at the University of New Orleans. He was 9-for-14 with six runs scored and six RBI. The junior third baseman posted a 1.571 slugging percentage with one double, two home runs and three triples. Smith was a double shy of the cycle on Sunday against the Privateers, had 22 total bases on the week and a .688 on-base percentage.
Bowen (Pasadena, Md./Catonsville C.C.) led the Retrievers in the series against NJIT this past weekend, recording home runs in two-of-three games. Bowen was 10-for-15 (.667) on the week with two home runs, seven runs scored, and seven RBI. He was 5-for-6 on Friday night, with four RBI, three runs scored, and a two-run homer.
Lyons (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) helped lead the Seawolves to a 4-2 week. The senior tossed 6.1 innings of no-hit shutout ball garnering a win and a save. Lyons picked up the win versus Fordham, throwing 4.1 innings of hitless baseball out of the bullpen. In the win over NYIT, Lyons tallied the save after getting the Seawolves out of a bases-loaded jam.
Rembisz (Clinton, Conn./Westbrook) went eight strong innings topping Sacred Heart Sunday allowing three hits, two in the second inning, and no earned runs in 6-1 victory. The senior righty struck out a career-high 15 hitters, the most by an America East pitcher so far this season, while walking just one. Rembisz has 28 strikeouts and only two walks in last 16.0 innings.
Charron (Schaghticoke, N.Y./La Salle Institute) wins his second-straight rookie of the week award. He hit .500 to help the Bearcats gain a split of the first two games in the three-game set against Brigham Young University. Charron stretched his hit streak to six games, during which he is batting .458. He is currently fourth in the league in batting at .393 and first in slugging percentage at .643.
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Albany Great Danes
UAlbany (10-10, 0-0 America East) moved to an even 10-10 record with a four-game sweep of non-conference opponent Fairleigh Dickinson over the weekend... The Great Danes, who recorded the program’s first four-game sweep since defeating Yale four times on March 27-28, 2004, have now won seven of their last eight games... UAlbany claimed the series opener, 2-1, then won both games of Saturday’s doubleheader by 8-3 margins... The Great Danes rolled to a 12-5 victory in the final game... Sophomore infielder Sean Donovan (Pleasant Valley, N.Y./Pleasant Valley) led UAlbany with a .364 average, recording four hits, including two doubles, and a team-best five RBI... Donovan was responsible for both runs in the series opener, and had at least one RBI in every game... Donovan leads the team with a .369 average and has recorded a team-high 24 hits... Senior hurler John Naples (Troy, N.Y./Central Catholic) tossed 6.2 innings in the series opener, recording nine strikeouts and allowing just one earned run... Naples improved to 3-2 on the season, and is second on the team with 24 strikeouts... Senior Chris Wood (Warsaw, N.Y./Warsaw Central) recorded three hits, including a double, scored three runs, and drove in another five for the Great Danes... He was 2-for-2 on stolen base attempts over the weekend... Wood leads the team with 14 RBI on the season and is tied for second with two home runs... The Great Danes play host to Manhattan on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. before hosting Binghamton in the America East Conference opener in a four-game series over the weekend.
Binghamton Bearcats
Binghamton (6-5, 0-0 America East) went 1-1 for the week, splitting the first two games of a three-game set at BYU... America East Rookie of the Week, freshman left fielder Joe Charron (Schaghticoke, N.Y./La Salle Institute) led the offensive charges, hitting .500 and stretching his hit streak to six games... Charron is batting .458 over that span and is second on the team with a .393 season average... Freshman center fielder Henry Dunn (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side) also hit .500 for the week... Junior pitcher Scott Diamond (Guelph, Ontario/Centennial Collegiate) notched his first win of the season against BYU, going five innings... Freshman reliever Murphy Smith (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa) went three innings and allowed just one earned run with a pair of strikeouts.
Hartford Hawks
Hartford (3-15, 0-0 America East) completed a five-game week with a 2-3 record... The Hawks two victories came against UMass (8-2) and Quinnipiac (6-4), both at home... The Hawks dropped decisions to Boston College (5-6) and Sacred Heart (5-7) at home and Quinnipiac (1-11) on the road... Hartford will open up conference play this weekend, but not before a Tuesday afternoon match-up with in-state rival Connecticut at the Hartford baseball field... For the week, two Hartford players finished with a better than .400 batting average... Adam Bowser (Abington, Mass./Worcester Academy) led the team with a .429 batting average (9-of-21) on a team-best nine hits. He also added three RBI, which was second to Bill Perry (East Falmouth, Mass./Falmouth) who finished with four RBI and a .421 batting average (8-of-19). Brady Stouffer (Gaithersburg, Md./Northwest) finished with an impressive six runs scored, reaching base on seven hits and four walks in 19 total at bats. He also finished the week with two double and two triples, the second player to record a pair of triple last week (Bowser had two). The Hawks pitching staff saw wins for Weston Szymanski (Mt. Airy, Md./South Carrol), in relief, and CJ Browne (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Chaminade) in his eight and a third inning start against UMass. Browne his only start last week, allowing one earned run, two total, on seven hits, while striking out three batters. Also pitching well last week was Bob Rogers (Fairfield, Conn./Avon Old Farms), who saw four and two-thirds innings in relief, allowing just one hit and striking out three batters against Sacred Heart.
Maine Black Bears
Maine (5-15, 0-0 America East) dropped a three-game series at the University of New Orleans over the weekend... Maine lost all three games by a single run, including a 10-9 decision on Sunday in 10 innings... Maine was led all weekend by America East Co-Player of the Week Curt Smith (Willemstad, Curacao/Peter Stuyvesant) who hit .643 with six runs scored and six RBI... He had one double, two home runs and three triples in the three games... He tied a Maine record for triples in a game with two on Friday... On Sunday, he hit his third triple of the weekend which was the 14th of his career, setting a Maine record for career triples... Joe Hough (2003?06) previously held the record with 13 in his career... Smith was a double shy of the cycle on Sunday at UNO... Kevin McAvoy (Brewer, Maine/Brewer) made his collegiate debut on the mound over the weekend... McAvoy pitched in two games for the Black Bears... McAvoy also had a great week at the plate as he recorded six hits, including a three-run home run... Joel Barrett (Brewer, Maine/Brewer) hit his 50th career double on Saturday at UNO giving him 50 for his career... His 50 doubles moves him into a tied for fourth place on Maine's all-time doubles list... The Black Bears swing into America East play when they travel to Stony Brook for a four-game series this weekend.
UMBC Retrievers
UMBC (8-12, 0-0 America East) was 3-2 on the week, with two wins coming at home and one on the road... The Retrievers recorded their fifth straight loss with a 7-5 decision to Towson on Tuesday, but then broke that streak on Wednesday with a 9-2 win over host Georgetown... In their first home game since Mar. 19, the Retrievers defeated NJIT 18-5, but fell to the Highlanders the next day 6-8 before coming back on Sunday and taking the series 2-1 with an 8-2 win... America East Co-Player of the Week, senior Steve Bowen (Pasadena, Md./Catonsville C.C.) and junior Will Delawter (Frederick, Md./Chesapeake JC) led the Retrievers on the week, recording batting averages of .667 and .550, respectively while accounting for 21 of the Retrievers 67 hits... The Retrievers led the Tigers, 5-4, going into the sixth inning on Tuesday, but gave up three runs in the next three innings, while gaining none of their own to take the loss... Junior Steve Russo (Lancaster, Pa./Conestoga Valley) led the Retrievers against the Hoyas on Wednesday, going 3-for-4 with four RBI and his first triple of the year, while Bowen led the series against NJIT, going 10-for-15 with seven runs scored, seven RBI, and two home runs... Sophomore Ed Bach (Columbia, Md./Atholton) has been placed on the injured list and his return date is yet to be determined... The Retrievers travel to cross-town rival Maryland on Tuesday before opening conference play against Hartford in a four-game series this weekend.
Stony Brook Seawolves
Stony Brook (7-11, 0-0 America East) went 4-2 on the week as they gear up for their conference opener this weekend versus Maine... The Seawolves opened the week with a win over Sacred Heart and a win over Fordham... After dropping the first two games of the series versus NYIT, the Seawolves rallied for two straight wins to cap the week... America East Co-Pitcher of the Week, Matt Lyons (Farmingdale, NY) pitched 6.1 innings of hitless baseball as he tallied both a win and a save out of the bullpen... Lyons got the Seawolves out of a bases loaded no-out jam in the top of the seventh in their 2-1 win over NYIT. .. In a tough loss to NYIT, Tom Koehler (New Rochelle, NY) struck out 10 batters in 7.0 innings of work.
Vermont Catamounts
Vermont (7-11, 0-0 America East) went 2-3 last week including winning two out of three at defending Northeast Conference champion Sacred Heart over the weekend ... America East Co-Pitcher of the Week, Bryan Rembisz (Clinton, Conn./Westbrook) was dominating on the mound for the second straight start... He topped Sacred Heart, 6-1, Sunday allowing three hits, one walk and no earned runs over eight innings while striking out a career-high 15... The 15 Ks are the most in a single-game by an America East hurler this season... Rembisz has 28 strikeouts and only two walks in his last 16.0 innings on the mound over his last two starts, both victories... The Catamounts leadoff hitter, Rembisz also leads UVM with 14 RBI... Kyle Henry (Brattleboro, Vt./Brattleboro/Connecticut) hit safely in all five games last week to extend his hitting streak to 10 straight at .438... He also topped Sacred Heart Saturday with complete game effort on the mound allowing seven hits, two walks with two earned runs while striking out a season-high seven... After hitting just one home run in its first 16 games, Vermont went deep in each of the last two contests. Ethan Paquette (West Burke, Vt./St. Johnsbury Academy) on Saturday and Jim Chapman (Bourne, Mass/Kent’s Hill) on Sunday hit three-run shots in Vermont’s wins at Sacred Heart. Paquette’s homer was the first of his career ... The Catamounts have stolen 25 bases in its first 18 games after swiping 31 in all 53 games in 2006... Vermont opens a seven-game homestand Tuesday hosting Plattsburgh State in its home opener. The Catamounts also take on Division I Independent New York Tech in a four-game series this weekend at Historic Centennial Field, now in its 101st year as the home of UVM athletic teams.