CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- Albany junior Meagan Butsch (Tomball, Tex./Tomball), Boston University sophomore Cassidi Hardy (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter) and freshman April Setterlund (Torrance, Calif./South Torrance) each nabbed America East softball weekly awards for the first time this season. Butsch was named the player of the week, while Terriers Hardy and Setterlund were tabbed pitcher and rookie of the week, respectively, for the week ending April 13. Click here for PDF Weekly Release.
Butsch recorded a .500 average to lead Albany to a 6-1 week, including six straight wins. The junior third baseman scored eight runs on 11 hits, including three home runs, three doubles and one triple for a 1.136 slugging %. Butsch also drove in seven runs while striking out just once in 22 at bats. She went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer in a 9-4 win at UMBC on Monday, and went 2-for-3 with one run scored in a close 3-2 victory over Vermont on Wednesday. Butsch is second on the team with a .356 average on the season and has scored 18 runs off 32 hits.
Hardy completed the week with a 0.79 ERA and 2-0 record in three appearances over 17.2 innings. The sophomore threw two one-hit complete game shutouts against conference rivals, Maine and Hartford. In the 5-0 win over the Black Bears Wednesday, Hardy struck out six and walked just one batter while going the distance. In the first game of a doubleheader against the Hawks on Saturday, the Terrier won a 1-0 pitchers’ duel, striking out nine Hartford batters over seven frames. Hardy scattered five hits in her three appearances, striking out 20.
Setterlund batted .476 in six games last week, helping Boston U. to a 5-1 record. In her 21 at-bats, the rookie connected for 10 hits, including a double and a triple, driving in three runs. In addition, Setterlund showed her speed on the basepaths, scoring five runs and stealing three bases on as many attempts. She came around to score the only Terrier run in a 4-1 loss to Hartford on Saturday afternoon, spoiling Hawks’ pitcher Brittney Stratton’s shutout. This the rookie’s first such award of her career.
Team Notebooks:
Albany (20-11 overall record, 8-1 record in America East) went 6-1 last week, splitting a conference doubleheader with UMBC on Monday, before sweeping a conference doubleheader from Vermont and a three-game series from Maine, all in conference action... The Great Danes fell to the Retrievers 6-1 before posting a 9-4 win in the second game... UAlbany recorded wins of 3-2 and 5-2 over Vermont before defeating Maine 9-5 and 9-3 on Saturday... The Great Danes then posted a 10-9 come-from-behind victory over the Black Bears in the series finale... Junior Meagan Butsch (Tomball, Texas/Tomball) led the Great Danes, hitting .500 for the week... The junior third baseman scored eight runs on 11 hits, including three home runs, three doubles and one triple... She also drove in seven runs, while striking out just once in 22 at bats... Freshman Andrianna Walraven (Thompson Ridge, N.Y./Pine Bush) posted a .250 average on the week, recording five hits, including three doubles, scoring three runs and driving in six more... She struck out once in 20 at bats and was 4-for-4 on stolen base attempts... In a 10-9 come-from-behind win over Maine that swept the three-game series, Walraven drove in the winning run with a no-out, walk-off single past the second baseman...Sophomore Leah McIntosh (Whitby, Ontario/Sinclair) struck out 19 opposing batters in 14.0 innings of work, going 2-0 in two complete-game appearances last week... McIntosh has a 2.12 ERA and a 10-3 record on the season... Senior Amber Maisonet (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy leads the team with a .368 average, recording 35 hits and scoring 24 runs while also going 15-of-17 on stolen base attempts... The Great Danes will continue America East Conference play on Tuesday, completing a suspended game with Binghamton starting at 2:30 before playing the final game of the series directly after... UAlbany will travel to Manhattan for a non-conference doubleheader on Wednesday and visit Hartford for a three-game conference series over the weekend.
Binghamton (5-23, 1-8 AE) senior third baseman Meghan Quinn (Temecula, Calif./Temecula Valley) went 6-for-13 (.429) last week. She is now hitting a team-best .381 in America East Conference games ... Freshman shortstop Brianna Andrews (Endicott, N.Y./Union-Endicott) went 6-for-15 last week (.400), driving in five runs in the process. She is now batting .308 against conference opponents ... Junior left fielder Michelle Olivieri (Conesus, N.Y./Daytona Beach CC) went 4-for-7 in the weekend series against Vermont (.571), scored three times and drove in three other runs. Against conference opponents, she is hitting .312 ... Freshman catcher Deannie Plemon (Irvine, Calif./Woodbridge) hit her team-leading third home run of the season against UMBC on April 9.
The Boston University softball team went 5-1 last week to improve to 23-13 overall and 9-2 in America East play... The Terriers started the week of with three straight wins over Maine and Connecticut heading into the weekend’s match up with Hartford... BU picked up a win in the series-opening game, before suffering its first home loss of the season in the second game... The Terriers rebounded and took the rubber match on Sunday... BU was led offensively by senior Tyler Benson (Tucson, Ariz./Catalina Hills) and freshman April Setterlund (Torrance, Calif./South Torrance) who were 7-for-12 and 10-for-21, respectively... Setterlund drive in three runs and stole three bases over six games... The pitching staff continued to shine as freshman Kelley Engman (Vienna, Va./Bishop O’Connell) and Cassidi Hardy (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter) picked up two wins in the circle... BU will host in-state rivals Boston College and Massachusetts this week, before traveling to UMBC for the weekend series.
Hartford (15-11, 4-7 AE) split a doubleheader with Stony Brook last week before dropping two of three games over the weekend at Boston University. Both losses to the conference-leading Terriers were by one run... Sophomore Brittney Stratton (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) pitched in all five games last week. She gave up two hits and struck out five in a complete-game shutout against Stony Brook (she also threw 3.1 innings of relief in the second game against the Seawolves). Stratton also got the starting nod in all three games at BU over the weekend. She finished the week with a 1.43 ERA over 29.1 innings with 21 strikeouts... Sophomore Ann Kyzer (Boxborough, Mass./Acton-Boxborough Regional) led the Hawks at the plate for the week with a .364 batting average. Two of her four hits were doubles and she also drove in a run... Hartford will play mid-week doubleheaders at Holy Cross and Fairfield before hosting Albany for a three-game weekend series at the UH Softball Field.
Maine (5-34, 5-6 AE) dropped a doubleheader at Boston University on Wednesday, and then dropped all three games in its series at Albany ... Sophomore outfielder Alexis Souhlaris (Derry, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) batted .529 last week with nine hits and two home runs ... Ashley Waters (Amesbury, Mass./Amesbury H.S.) batted .375 and blasted three home runs to push her team-leading total to nine this season ... Whitney Spangler (Canton, Ohio/Central Catholic H.S.) and Kirstin Allen (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West H.S.) batted .389 and .333, respectively ... Maine has blasted 30 home runs this season as a team, and now stand just two shy of tying the school record for homers in a single season ... The current mark of 32 was set during the 2000 season ... Waters needs just one more home run to reach 15 in her career ... After being on the road for every game this season, Maine returns home to Mike Kessock Field for its next five games ... The homestand begins on Tuesday when the Black Bears play host to Colby College at 4 p.m. ... Maine will play host to Vermont in a three-game set this weekend, and then play host to Boston University in a single game next Wednesday at 3 p.m.
UMBC (18-21, 7-4 AE) went 4-3 in seven America East games last week... The Retrievers split a doubleheader with Albany on April 7, then swept two games from Binghamton on April 9 before taking one of three from Stony Brook over the weekend... Sophomore first baseman Amanda Fefel (Baltimore, Md./Catonsville) went 4-for-7 with five RBI in two games against the Great Danes, while senior Ashley Gray (Pasadena, Md./Northeast/Delaware State) was dominant in the opener, allowing just one run and striking out seven in a complete game victory ... The Retrievers used a season-high 17 hits to defeat the Bearcats, 14-3, in the opener... Senior catcher Kali Shirk (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) hit a grand slam and collected six RBI in the game, while three different players had three hits apiece... Freshman Stephanie Weigman (Elkridge, Md./Archbishop Spalding) pitched a gem in the nightcap... Gray’s solo home run in the sixth broke a 1-1 tie and lifted UMBC to a 2-1 victory in the series finale against Stony Brook behind another solid pitching performance from Weigman... The win was the 450th in head coach Joe French’s 15-year career... Gray and Shepherd extended their hitting streaks to 15 and 14 games, respectively... UMBC is hitting .307 as a team in America East play, led by senior second baseman Dana Shepherd (Columbia, Md./Oakland Mills), who is batting .472 (17-for-36) and slugging 1.028 with 17 hits, 15 runs scored, 13 RBI and eight extra-base hits, including five home runs... Fefel is batting .421 and Gray .394 with three homers apiece against conference opponents... Weigman has posted a team-best 1.56 ERA in 36.0 innings in America East play, holding opponent batters to a .192 average... The Retrievers have the week off before hosting America East rival Boston University in a three-game series this weekend.
Sophomore Alyssa Struzenberg (Cooper City, Fla.) recorded 18 strikeouts in 11 innings as the Stony Brook softball team (18-16-1, 5-6 AE) split an afternoon doubleheader with Hartford... Sophomore Vicki Kavitsky (Cherry Hill, N.J.) went 3-for-4 with a grand slam to help Stony Brook beat UMBC, 10-7, in game one of a doubleheader... In game two, sophomore Casey Jacobs (Davie, Fla.) allowed just one earned run in seven innings as the Seawolves completed the doubleheader sweep with a 3-2 victory... Sophomore Alyssa Struzenberg (Cooper City, Fla.) struck out 12 in six innings in a 2-1 loss to UMBC.
Vermont (10-20, 3-8 AE) went 4-3 on a busy week, earning a doubleheader sweep over Siena and taking two of three from Binghamton ... The Cats also dropped a pair of tightly contested games at Albany on Wednesday ... Against the Saints freshman Caitlin Monahan (Clarks Summit, Pa./Abington Heights) threw a complete-game, four-hit shutout to lead the way in a 3-0 victory ... Monahan came into the contest having only made two appearances in the circle this season for the Cats for a total of 1.2 innings of work ... Against Albany, both games were tied late before the Great Danes pulled out a pair of victories ... Senior Kate Haber (Riverwoods, Ill./Deerfield) went 2-for-4 in the opener against Albany, breaking the Vermont all-time record for hits in the process and now has 150 for her career ... For the week Haber hit .440 with a team-high nine RBI ... Haber went 3-for-4 with three RBI in the Cats’ 8-4 victory in the second game of a doubleheader on Saturday ... In the finale against the Bearcats, UVM used a nine-run fifth to break open a 4-4 tie and give the Cats a 13-4 victory in a five-inning affair ... Vermont had four student-athletes record two hits and four knock in two runs apiece ... Hayley Crosby (Cranberry, Pa./Seneca Valley) went 2-for-4 on the afternoon with two RBI and two runs scored to lead the way ... Senior Rachelle Eloschuk (Calgary, Alberta/Bishop Grandin) had eight stolen bases on the week, while junior Jeanine Connolly (West Bridgewater, Mass./West Bridgewater) hit .429 with seven RBI ... The Cats return to action this weekend with a three game set at Maine.