Stony Brook's Rob Leonard (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) has been named America East Player of the Week. His teammate Michael Stephan (Patchogue-Medford, N.Y./ Patchogue-Medford) earns America East Rookie of the Week, while Hartford's Weston Szymanski (Mt. Airy, Md./South Carroll) receives America East Pitcher of the Week. The awards were announced Monday (April 9).
Leonard led the Seawolves to a 5-1 week. The senior first baseman drove in 10 runs, including a game-winning grand slam versus Maine. In the win over Hofstra, Leonard went 3-for-5 with a double, two RBI and run scored. In the sweep over Maine, Leonard led the offense, driving in eight runs and batting .500 with a grand slam, a triple and a double. In the 7-3 win over Maine on Friday, Leonard broke a 3-3 tie with a two-out grad slam to lift Stony Brook to a 7-3 win. He drove in five runs in the win. In Game 2, he struck again as he hit a two-run triple in the first inning to hand the Seawolves an early 2-0 lead. Leonard has either scored a run or driven on in over the Seawolves’ five-game win streak. Leonard slugged a team-high .842 on the week and is on a five-game hitting streak.
Szymanski tossed a complete-game two-hit shutout to jump-start a four-game sweep of UMBC. The sophomore righty allowed singles in the fourth and ninth, did not issue a walk, and faced just one batter over the minimum. Szymanski leads America East in opponent batting average as hitters are batting just .224 against him. He is 3-2 overall with a pair of complete games. He becomes the first pitcher in the league to toss a complete-game shutout this season.
Stephan led the Seawolves to a 5-1 week. The catcher/designated hitter batted .429 and drew seven walks to poast a team-high .667 on base percentage. Stephan also ripped three doubles and slugged .643 on the week. He crossed the plate seven times and drove in three as Stony Brook outscored its opponents, 37-19, on the week. This is Stephan’s second rookie of the week award. During the six weeks the awards has ben given, three players have won the award twice with Binghamton’s Joe Charron and Maine’s Myckey Lugbauer each earning the honor twice.
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTEBOOKS
Albany Great Danes
UAlbany (10-15, 0-4 America East) dropped to 10-15 last week with a 5-2 loss to non-conference opponent Manhattan and a four-game sweep at the hands of America East Conference opponent Binghamton... The Great Danes fell 10-6 on Friday and lost 6-0 in the opener and 12-5 in the nightcap of a doubleheader on Saturday... The Bearcats completed the sweep with a 4-1 win in the finale on Sunday... Senior Tom Hill (Emerson, N.J./Emerson) led the Great Danes with a .462 average... Hill recorded six hits, including two doubles, two runs scored and two RBI... He was also 3-of-5 on stolen base attempts... Senior third baseman Steve Wyland (Stratford, N.J./Sterling) hit .294 with four runs scored, four RBI and one home run... Sophomore lefty Cory Warrings (Cairo, N.Y./Cairo-Durham) posted an eight-inning outing on Sunday, striking out seven and allowing two earned runs... Senior right-hander John Naples (Troy, N.Y./Catholic Central) went 5.1 innings on Friday, fanning five in 5.1 innings of work, while junior righty Casey Walsh (Ithaca, N.Y./Ithaca) posted a 5.1 inning performance on Saturday, fanning seven... The Great Danes will visit Marist for a non-conference doubleheader on Wednesday and will host non-conference opponent New York Tech in a four-game weekend series starting at 3 p.m. on Friday.
Binghamton Bearcats
Binghamton (10-8, 4-0 America East) went 4-3 in a busy week, shrugging off three defeats in Utah with a four-game sweep of Albany to open conference play... It is the first time the Bearcats have pulled off a four-game sweep in America East play... The four straight wins match the team's high streak for the season... Binghamton averaged eight runs a game and outscored Albany 32-12... Junior third baseman Ryan James (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) hit .533 in the series, with an on-base percentage of .611. Batting second in the lineup, James had eight hits and four RBI in the four games, and did not make an error in the field... Senior first baseman Brendon Hitchcock (Laceyville, Pa./Wyalusing Valley) hit .571 for the week, raising his season average to .453, tops in the America East... Freshman left fielder Joe Charron (Schaghticoke, N.Y./La Salle Institute) ripped two home runs in the Albany series and leads the team with four round-trippers... Freshman center fielder Henry Dunn (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side) hit .357 against Albany... Senior pitcher Mike Van Gorder (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) continued his success in conference play with a 4-1 win over the Great Danes to complete the sweep. Van Gorder (3-1) allowed just one run in six innings, lowering his team-best ERA to 1.71. In his last four conference games dating back to 2006, Van Gorder is 4-0 with a 1.48 ERA... Junior pitcher Scott Diamond (Guelph, Ontario/Centennial Collegiate) worked 5.0 scoreless innings to beat Albany... Junior closer Khalid Afify (Binghamton, N.Y./Binghamton/Broome CC) picked up a win and a save during the week... Junior reliever Gio Yannuzzi (Binghamton, N.Y./Binghamton) tossed 5.2 innings of two-hit ball against Albany to record his first win of the spring... Senior shortstop Justin Smucker (Bird-in-Hand, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) set a program record with a five-hit performance against BYU... Smucker went 5-for-6 with three runs and three RBI.
Hartford Hawks
Hartford (7-16, 4-0 America East) completed its most successful week of the season with a 4-1 record over five games, including a four-game sweep in the opening week of conference play against the UMBC Retrievers... Hartford opened the week with a 3-1 loss to in-state rival Connecticut, before traveling to Baltimore to open the conference season... America East Pitcher of the Week Weston Szymanski (Mt. Airy, Md./South Carroll) opened the series with the Retrievers, pitching a nine-inning complete game shutout, allowing just two hits and striking out one batter... David Grossman (Columbia, Md./Atholton) posted the best week at the plate with a .467 batting average, having started all five games... He finished with seven hits on 15 at bats with four doubles and his first home run of the season... Brady Stouffer (Gaithersburg, Md./Northwest) finished with a team best nine hits, while five other added seven hits on the week... Bill Perry (Melorse, Mass./Melrose) finished the week with seven RBI, while Grossman was second on the team with six, in total 10-of-12 players who saw time in the first last week finished with at least one RBI... The Hawks will play a mid-week warm up game with the Holy Cross Crusaders on Wednesday afternoon, before hosting Stony Brook for a four-game series beginning on Friday afternoon.
Maine Black Bears
Maine (5-19, 0-4 America East) dropped a four-game America East series at Stony Brook over the weekend... Maine was led on the weekend by Brian Hackett (Bangor, Maine/Bangor) who hit a team-high .462 with two runs scored and three RBI... Matt McGraw (Burlington, Ontario) and Curt Smith (Willemstad, Curacao) each hit a triple on Sunday against the Seawolves... The two are tied for the team-lead in triples, each having hit four on the season... Rookie Tavis Hasenfus (Winthrop, Maine/Winthrop) hit his first career home run on Sunday at Stony Brook... Joel Barrett (Brewer, Maine/Brewer) saw his 12-game hitting streak snapped in the second game of the doubleheader on Saturday... It was the longest hitting streak by a Black Bear this season... Alejandro Balsinde (Miami, Fla./Christopher Columbus) recorded his first career start on the mound on Sunday at Stony Brook... Sophomore Kevin McAvoy (Brewer, Maine/Brewer) recorded his 100th carer hit in the first game of the doubleheader on Saturday at Stony Brook... Maine has currently played all 24 of its games on the road this season.... The Black Bears are scheduled to play a game in Sanford, Maine on Wednesday before playing its home-opener this weekend when it hosts UMBC.
UMBC Retrievers
UMBC (8-17, 0-4 America East) dropped five-straight games, last week, suffering a mid-week loss to Maryland and being swept by Hartford in a four-game weekend series... The Retrievers were blanked by the Terrapins, 9-0 on Tuesday night, recording nine hits and four errors in the contest... Senior Mike Scheffel (Westminster, Md./Westminster) recorded the Retrievers’ only extra-base hit with a double, while sophomore Scott Peddicord (Columbia, Md./Long Reach) went 3-for-3 with one walk... Hartford held the Retrievers scoreless on Friday’s game, defeating them 6-0... Scheffel and sophomore Tom Meaney (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem) recorded the only two hits for the Retrievers, while the Hawks recorded 13... In the first game of a double-header on Saturday, the Retrievers fell, 11-4, to the Hawks scoring all of their runs in the second inning, including a two-run homer by Meaney... Junior Steve Evans (Finksburg, Md./Chapelgate) was on the mound for the Retrievers in game two, going all 7.0 innings and letting up just two runs and five hits, but the Retriever bats fell silent with Hartford pulling out the 2-1 victory... The story was much the same in the finale of the series on Sunday, where the Retrievers scored both of their runs off sacrifice flies, while the Hawks had seven different players record RBI and held a 23-7 advantage over the Retrievers, defeating them 17-2... The Retrievers play host to Navy on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. before traveling to Maine for a four-game series from April 13-15, beginning with a 5 p.m. game on Friday.
Stony Brook Seawolves
Stony Brook (12-12, 4-0 America East) has won five straight as the Seawolves got back to .500 on the year at 12-12 overall... America East Player of the Week Rob Leonard (Wantagh, NY) drove in 10 runs on the week and led the team to four-game sweep of Maine at University Field... Leonard hit a two-out grand slam to lift the Seawolves over Maine on Friday, and is riding a five-game hitting streak... Stony Brook outscored its opponents 37-19 over the week as the Seawolves posted a 5-1 record... The Seawolves five-game winning streak is the longest of the season... Last year the Seawolves posted two five-game win streaks during the season.
Vermont Catamounts
Vermont (8-13, 0-0 America East), the lone team yet to play a conference game, went 1-2 last weekend with weather also claiming a pair of games... Vermont was able to play its home opener on schedule topping Plattsburgh State, 6-4, at Centennial Field on Tuesday, April 3, the earliest date UVM has played a home game in many years... The Catamounts pitching was solid in the three games last week with a 3.96 ERA and holding opponents to a .220 batting average... But Vermont’s bats were quiet in dropping a twinbill Sunday... As a team UVM hit only .196 in three games last week and scored just seven runs ... Bryan Rembisz (Clinton, Conn./Westbrook) struck out seven and did not walk a hitter in six innings Sunday. He has 35 strikeouts and only two walks in his last 22.0 innings on the mound over his last three starts... Rembisz leads America East with 43 Ks and he was walked just four batters in 33.1 innings to start the season. Sunday he became the fourth Catamount hurler to record 200 career strikeouts now with 201... Kyle Henry (Brattleboro, Vt./Brattleboro/Connecticut) went a career-high eight innings on the mound in his first home start Sunday... Two of Henry’s four losses have come this season when the Catamounts were shut out... Will Huntington (Montville, Conn./Montville/UConn Avery Point) continued his solid start at the plate hitting .500 (4-for-8) last week with two doubles... Huntington, who hit only .211 last season, is fourth in America East in hitting at .362 and tied for second with eight steals... After a doubleheader at home against Siena Tuesday, Vermont opens the defense of its 2006 America East regular season title this weekend with a four-game series at Binghamton.