CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- Boston University's Shayne Lotito (Acton, Calif./Vasquez) earned the America East Softball Player of the Week for the week ending February 24. Teammate Kelley Engman (Vienna, Va./Bishop O'Connell) took home the first Rookie of the Week award of the 2008 season, and Stony Brook's Alyssa Struzenberg (Cooper City, Fla.) garnered the week's pitching award. Click here for full Weekly Release in PDF.
Lotito batted .375 during the Terriers’ opening weekend at the Houston Invitational. She tallied six hits in 16 at-bats and drew one walk. The junior also went a perfect 2-for-2 on the basepaths in steals.
Struzenberg earned a 2-0 record in three appearances at the Charlotte Tournament in North Carolina. She struck out 15 batters in 15.2 innings, allowing 12 hits and five earned runs for a 2.23 ERA. The Seawolves (2-2) won both games Struzenberg started on the mound.
Newcomer Engman did not earn a decision in three appearances, but compiled a 1.27 ERA, allowing three runs, just two earned, in 11 innings of work. She only allowed two runners to reach base via the walk, while striking out three batters.
Team Notebooks:
Binghamton (1-3 overall, 0-0 AE record) senior third baseman Sara Eppolito batted a team-best
.417 (5-for-12) at the Elon Invitational this past weekend. She had a pair of
multiple-hit games ... Freshman catcher Kelly Schuldt (Lisle, N.Y./Whitney
Point) went 3-for-10 at the Elon Invitational with a pair of doubles ... In the
Bearcats' 5-3 win over Georgetown on Sunday, freshman first baseman Emily
Phillips (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington North) belted a two-run triple to
break up a 1-1 tie in the top of the sixth inning ... Junior pitcher Cyrilla
Suker (Voorheesville, N.Y./UMass Lowell) went 1-1 this past weekend, with an
ERA of just 0.54. She struck out 10 batters in 13.0 innings ... Binghamton
heads to the Texas-El Paso Invitational this coming weekend. It marks the first
time as a Division I program that the Bearcats travel out to the Mountain Time
Zone.
Boston University (1-4, 0-0) competed at the Marriott Houston Classic in Houston, Texas and
finished with a 1-4 record, facing ranked opponents such as Houston and Kansas...
Defeated Cal State Northridge, 3-0, in the season opener before dropping the
next three contests... Fell to No. 16 Houston, 8-0, Texas State, 7-1, Kansas,
2-1, and Centenary, 7-4... Junior Shayne Lotito (Acton,
Calif./Vasquez) led on the offensive front
with a .375 batting average over five games and scored the Terriers’ lone run
against a Kansas team that was receiving votes in both major polls... Freshman
Kelley Engman made three appearances in the circle and earned a 1.64 ERA,
allowing 12 hits, two earned runs, while striking out three.
and
Maine
(0-5, 0-0) did not play any regular season games this past week,
but did take part in two exhibition games in the Mahaney Dome ... The Black Bears
return to regular action this weekend as they begin their two-week spring break
trip ... The Black Bears will begin the trip competing in the Stetson Tournament
in Deland, Fla. ... Maine will face Albany (11 a.m.) and Stetson (4 p.m.) on Friday, February 29, then take on Western Michigan on Saturday at 11 a.m. and Stetson again at 4 p.m. ... The consolation and championship will be held
on Sunday at 10 a.m. and 12 p.m.
UMBC (1-3, 0-0) had all of its games
last week postponed due to inclement weather in the region. The Retrievers’
doubleheader at Maryland,
originally scheduled for Feb. 21, will be played Feb. 27, while UMBC’s home
opener, a doubleheader against Bucknell, which was supposed to be played on
Feb. 23, has been postponed until March 26... Senior Ashley Gray (Pasadena, Md./Northeast/Delaware State) was named the America East
Pitcher of the Week after two hard-luck losses at the season-opening
UNC-Greensboro Spartan Classic... Gray struck out eight batters in 12 innings,
walked three and posted a 1.17 ERA while holding batters to a .234 average... Sophomore
third baseman Emily Thompson (Niagara Falls,
N.Y./Niagara Falls) led a sluggish Retrievers’ offense, hitting .417 (5-for-12)
with two doubles and three RBI in four games in Greensboro... Sophomore Amanda Fefel (Baltimore, Md./Catonsville) hit .364 (4-for-11) with a triple, two RBI
and three runs scored in four games... The Retrievers host George Washington in a
doubleheader on Feb. 26, then head to in-state rival Maryland a day later for
the make-up game of last week’s postponement... UMBC concludes the week at the
George Washington Colonial Classic March 1-2.
Stony Brook (2-2, 0-0) opened
its 2008 season at the Charlotte First Pitch Classic this weekend, going 2-2
with wins over Colgate and Charlotte. The Seawolves beat Colgate, 9-2 behind
home runs from Jade Clare, Kendall Blumenthall and Sara Cerrone. Alyssa
Struzenberg had six strikeouts in seven innings of work and picked up her first
win of the season. On Sunday, Stony Brook received another complete-game from
Struzenberg in their 5-3 win over Charlotte. Kelsi Fanelli led the Seawolves’
offense with two RBI.