UMBC's Kali Shirk (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) has been named America East Player of the Week, Boston U.'s Megan Currier (Torrance, Calif./Torrance) collects America East Pitcher of the Week, while Stony Brook's Vicki Kavitsky (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East) takes home America East Rookie of the Week accolades. The awards were announced on Monday (April 9).
Shirk hit a team-best .643 (9-for-14) in four games last week to lead the Retrievers to a perfect 4-0 record... The junior centerfielder belted out three doubles, two homers, five RBI and six runs scored and slugged 1.286. She was again 3-for-4 with two doubles and a run in the first game against Albany, then cracked two homers to centerfield in game two, when she was 2-for-3 with four RBI on the day. Her first home run tied the game at 5-5 after the Great Danes had taken the lead. Shirk is currently riding a team-best six game hitting streak. She becomes the second Retriever to win player of the week honors this season. Back on March 26, Ashley Gray received the honor for UMBC.
Currier earns her second pitcher of the week honor of the season. The freshman hurler did not allow an earned runs in two appearances, while pitching two complete games. Currier did not allow an earned run in Boston U.’s 10-2 win over Binghamton in the opening game. She followed that effort up with a shutout against the Bearcats in the final game of the series, striking out two in a 9-0 five-inning win.
Kavitsky hit her first collegiate home run, the game winner against Maine on April 7. The freshman short- stop batted .583 over the weekend with seven runs and seven hits. She leads the team in doubles and runs. She becomes the first Stony Brook player to win this award this season.
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTEBOOKS
Albany Great Danes
UAlbany (16-1, 1-4 America East) went 2-2 last week, sweeping a non-conference doubleheader at Marist and then falling in both ends of an America East twinbill at UMBC... The games versus the Retrievers were moved from Albany to Baltimore due to inclement weather in the Capital Region... Freshman Michelle Connors (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa) batted .615 in four games last week, going 8-for-13 with six runs scored, five RBI and three home runs... Connors hit a homer in each game against the Retrievers, and added her third of the week in the nightcap at Marist... Freshman right-hander Leah McIntosh (Whitby, Ontario/Sinclair) tossed a complete game in the Great Danes’ 2-1 win over Marist on Tuesday... She struck out a career-high 12 batters and allowed just one earned run in the seven-inning performance... UAlbany will complete the three-game series at UMBC on Monday at 1 p.m. and will continue conference play with a doubleheader at Vermont on Wednesday starting at 2 p.m... The Great Danes will travel to Binghamton for a three-game conference series on Saturday and Sunday.
Binghamton Bearcats
Binghamton's (4-17, 1-5 America East) senior infielder Mia Bieman (Wingham, Ontario/F.E. Medill) went 4-for-6 in the three game series this past weekend at Boston University... She scored a pair of runs and belted her team-leading third home run on the season... Junior third baseman Megan Quinn (Temecula, Calif./Temecula Valley) went 2-for-6 against the Terriers, scored a run and drove in two other runs... The Bearcats are scheduled to play their first home games of the season this week, with a Thursday doubleheader against Marist at 3:30 p.m.
Boston University Terriers
Boston University (21-8, 5-1 America East) swept the Binghamton Bearcats over the weekend, earning its first conference sweep since April 25, 2005 vs. Vermont... Senior Chiya Louie (Seattle, Wash./Ingraham) was 4-for-9 with two home runs and eight RBI, while sophomore Christy Leath (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell Central) was 5-for-9 with two HR’s and four RBI... Sophomore designated hitter Megan Coughlin (Boca Raton, Fla./Olympic Heights) had her best series of the season thus far with 4-for-7 hitting, one homer and knocking in four RBI... Senior Brandi Shields (Schereville, Ind./Lake Central) was a perfect 4-for-4 in stolen bases... America East Pitcher of the Week freshman Megan Currier (Torrance, Calif./Torrance) allowed no earned runs in 11.0 innings of work, pitching two complete games and recording one shutout... With the sweep, the Terriers became the first conference team to earn 20 or more wins this season, as they sit atop of the league standings... Leath owns a conference-best .430 batting average... With her performances this weekend, Currier leapt to third in ERA in the America East with a 1.75 average... Louie, freshman Rachel Hebert (Humble, Texas/Humble) and Leath own the top three spots in RBI with 30, 26 and 25, respectively.
Hartford Hawks
Hartford (13-14, 4-2 America East) picked up a pair of conference wins over Vermont and went 2-2 overall last week... After having their doubleheader with Sacred Heart postponed and dropping a single game to Fairfield during the week, the Hawks took two of three games from UVM over the weekend... Hartford nearly won the first game of the series, scoring four runs and leaving the tying run on second base in the seventh inning of a 5-4 defeat... However, the Hawks bounced back to win 5-0 in the second game and 4-3 in the third... Sophomore Jackie Simonetty (Denville, N.J./Mount Saint Dominic Acad.) drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh of the 4-3 win with a single to right field... Freshman Gina Massaro (Havertown, Pa./Archbishop Prendergast) earned both victories in the circle against the Catamounts... She threw seven scoreless innings in the 5-0 victory to earn her first career shutout and struck out a career-high six batters... She led the team for the week with a 2-1 record and 1.53 ERA... Freshman Amanda Dilworth (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial) led the team in hitting for the week with a .500 average... She finished with six singles and a double while driving in a run and scoring three times... Senior Kristie Rochette (Meriden, Conn./Lyman Hall) batted .462 last week to raise her season average to a team-high .329... She also recorded one triple and drew three walks last week, moving her up in the school's all-time career record book. She is now third in walks (54) and tied for fourth in triples (6)... Hartford will play five America East contests this week, beginning with a doubleheader at Stony Brook on Wednesday, April 11... The Hawks will also play a three-game weekend series at Maine.
Maine Black Bears
Maine (17-19, 2-4 America East) dropped three games this past weekend to Stony Brook... The three-game series was originally scheduled to be played in Orono, but was moved to New York due to inclement weather... Freshman starting pitcher Christine McGivney (Burr Ridge, Ill./Hinsdale Central) made two appearances this weekend and pitched solid... She worked 12.2 innings overall, including 7.1 in Saturday’s 3-2 loss in eight innings... That performance marked the second-straight start for McGivney that she pitched more than seven innings in a contest... She also tossed 12.0 innings in last weekend’s 3-1 win in 13 innings over UMBC... McGivney struck out eight on the weekend and yielded just three walks... Senior Tara Vilardo (Ticonderoga, N.Y./Ticonderoga) batted a team-best .556 this weekend... Classmate Kristie Hawkins (Portland, Maine/Deering) batted .375 with an RBI... Maine returns to action on Wednesday when the Black Bears play host to Boston University in a doubleheader beginning at 2:30 p.m., at Kessock Field... It will mark the 2007 home opener for the Black Bears... Maine will also play host to Hartford in a three-game series this weekend, beginning with a doublheader on Saturday at 12 noon.
UMBC Retrievers
UMBC (18-8, 3-2 America East) went a perfect 4-0 last week, sweeping doubleheaders from Georgetown and Albany... Senior first baseman Melanie Denischuk (Poway, Calif./Hugh Sutherland (Carstairs, Alberta)/Indian River CC/Auburn) drove in eight runs on four hits, including two home runs, in two games against Georgetown... Junior center fielder Kali Shirk (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) went 5-for-7 with two homers and four RBI in two games against Albany... Shirk is hitting .545 (12-for-22) during her team-best six-game hitting streak... The Retrievers defeated the Great Danes twice on Sunday after having only one previous victory against them... After taking an early 4-0 lead in the second game against Albany, the Great Danes took a 5-4 lead, but the Retrievers came back to tie the game twice before winning the game with six runs in the top of the seventh... Junior Ashley Gray (Northeast, Md./Pasadena/Delaware State) posted an outstanding 0.58 ERA in 12 innings last week, striking out 12 batters... The Retrievers conclude their three-game series against Albany Monday afternoon, then host America East rivals Binghamton (April 11) and Vermont (April 14-15).
Stony Brook Seawolves
Stony Brook (17-9, 5-1 America East) swept Maine in a weekend series that was moved to Stony Brook because of the weather and field conditions in Maine... Prior to the series against Maine, Stony Brook's non-conference doubleheader with Fairleigh Dickinson was postponed due to rain... Stony Brook opened up the series with an exciting, 3-2 win... America East Rookie of the Week Vicki Kavitsky (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East) homered to center field in the eighth and Alyssa Struzenberg (Cooper City, Fla./Cooper City) stranded runners on first and third with one out, striking out the next two batters as Stony Brook came from behind to win, 3-2... Kelsi Fanelli (Audubon, N.J./Audubon) hit a clutch home run to left field to even the score at one... In game two, Stony Brook exploded for 21 hits and 25 runs in a 25-0 victory... Following game one in which Stony Brook had eight hits and three runs, the Seawolves scored six runs and had seven hits in the first inning of game two... Ashley Westphal (Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison) led off the top of the first inning with her fourth home run of the season... Kavitsky doubled to left center and one batter later, Marissa Fleury (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) followed with the same... Samantha Posey (Nokesville, Va./Briarcliffe) and Molly Kestranek (St. Mary's, Ga./Fayetteville-Manilus) each had singles and Kelly Oberto (Spring Lake Heights, N.J./Manasquan) also singled driving in Posey and Fleury... After Jade Clare (Federal Way, Wash./Todd Beamer) grounded out, Sara Cerrone (Floral Park, N.Y./Floral Park) cleared the bases with a triple to right field, driving in Kestranek and Oberto... After an easy second inning, the Stony Brook bats were still alive... Seven of the first eight batter who came to the plate reached safely... Fleury, Kestranek and Oberto each had RBI singles in the inning and Posey had 2 RBI... Stony Brook had eight runs and 11 hits in the inning and were aided by three Maine errors... In the third inning, Kavitsky had a two-run single and Fleury had a two-run double... Stony Brook also scored four runs in the fourth inning... Stony Brook's 25 runs was the most runs it has scored since 2003 when they shut out Savannah State, 28-0... Every Stony Brook starter had a hit and a run scored in the game... Christina Voth (Orange, Calif./Lutheran) scattered six hits and recorded her second shutout of the season... In the final game of the series, Struzenberg went the distance, scattering five hits over seven innings to lead the Stony Brook softball team to the sweep over Maine... After three scoreless innings, Stony Brook got on the board in the fourth... Fleury had an RBI double driving in Kavitsky and Posey had a sacrifice fly driving in Fanelli... In the fifth inning, Kavitsky continued her hot play of late, driving home Cerrone and Jamie Downer (Glen Cove, N.Y./Glen Cove). Stony Brook added two more runs in the sixth inning. Stony Brook plays five games this week, all against conference opponents... On Wednesday, April 11, the Seawolves take on Hartford in a doubleheader with first pitch of game one slated for 2 p.m... On Saturday, April 14, Stony Brook travels to Boston University for a three game set against the Terriers. The series with Boston U. concludes on Sunday, April 15 with one game beginning at 12 p.m.
Vermont Catamounts
Vermont (9-17, 2-4 America East) went 1-2 on the week in an America East weekend series at Hartford... The Catamounts were scheduled to open at home on Thursday against Siena, but it was postponed due to weather... On Saturday Vermont took the opener against the Hawks on the road, winning 5-4... Junior Sarah Toczylowski (Reading, Mass./Reading Memorial) led the Cats offensively by going 3-for-4 with a pair of two-run home runs, while sophomore Casey Fleming (Townsend, Mass./Lawrence Academy) hit her first career jack as well... Junior Aimee Kern (Wrentham, Mass./King Philip) threw the first six innings of shutout ball and was relieved by senior Sara Burke (Rochester, N.Y./Aquinas Institute), but after two runs scored and the bases were loaded Kern re-entered the game and got the final three outs... On Sunday Vermont trailed 3-0 after four innings, but got solo shots from Kern and sophomore Jeanine Connolly (West Bridgewater, Mass./West Bridgewater) to knot it up going into the seventh... The Hawks benefited from a Catamount error in the bottom half of the seventh, platting the winning run... Kern is 20 strike outs shy of breaking the UVM career record... After hitting only two home runs as a team in the first 20 games of the season, Vermont has hit eight in the last six, all against league opponents.