CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- Boston University's Rachel Hebert (Humble, Tex./Humble) and Melanie Delgado (Torrance, Calif./Bishop Montgomery) earned America East Softball Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively, for the period ending April 27, while Stony Brook sophomore hurler Casey Jacobs (Davie, Fla.) took home the Pitcher of the Week. Both the Terriers and the Seawolves are assured berths into the America East Softball Championship on May 8-10, while Albany will also be making an appearance at the league double-elimination tournament. Click here for full PDF Weekly Release.
Hebert recorded six hits in 13 at-bats last week for a .462 batting average in five games. Last year’s Rookie of the Year batted in nine runs and came around to score six more for the Terriers. Hebert also hit a double and a home run on the week and drew a walk. She was successful in her only stolen base attempt of the week. As the starting first baseman for the conference-leading Terriers, Hebert leads the league in fielding chances (360), putouts (337) and double plays (17). She had a perfect fielding week on 26 chances recording 23 putouts.
Jacobs earns the pitching award for the first time this season. She recorded 14 strikeouts, two walks and a 0.00 ERA in 13.2 innings pitched and four appearances. Jacobs earned both a win and a save in the weekend series with Albany, helping the Seawolves secure a spot in the four-team conference championship. She recorded six strikeouts in a complete-game shutout of the Great Danes on Saturday, and then retired three straight batters for the save on Sunday.
Delgado wins her second straight rookie honor with a .600 batting average last week. In 15 at-bats, the second baseman connected for six hits, including two doubles, and drew four walks with just one strikeout. Delgado recorded three RBI and came around to cross the plate three times. The rookie also went 1-for-1 in stolen base attempts. Delgado led the team in fielding assists with 14 and also fielded two double-plays.
Team Notebooks:
Albany (26-15 overall record, 13-5 in America East) went 3-2 last week, starting with a doubleheader sweep of Vermont on Wednesday... The Great Danes defeated the Catamounts, 1-0, in the first game, and posted a 5-1 win in the nightcap, which did not count towards the conference record... In a weekend series with Stony Brook, UAlbany defeated the Seawolves 5-1 in game one before falling 4-0 and 4-2 in the remaining games of the series... Sophomore second baseman Michelle Connors (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa) led the team, hitting .375 for the week, with six hits, including three doubles, two runs scored and one RBI... Senior third baseman Meagan Butsch (Tomball, Texas/Tomball) also hit .375, recording six hits, scoring two runs and driving in two more... Butsch also recorded her sixth home run of the season... Senior left fielder Amber Maisonet (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) had five hits on the week, including one double and one triple, and was 3-of-4 on stolen base attempts... Sophomore hurler Leah McIntosh (Whitby, Ontario/Sinclair) went 2-1 on the week with a 1.75 ERA... McIntosh tossed three complete games and recorded her fourth shutout win of the season in the victory over Vermont... She fanned 19 opposing batters in 20.0 innings of work, and issued just one walk in 74 batters faced... The Great Danes will visit crosstown-rival Siena on Wednesday for a non-conference doubleheader and take on Manhattan on Wednesday in two non-conference games that were rescheduled from earlier in the month... UAlbany will close out America East Conference play at home, hosting Boston U. on Saturday and Sunday.
Binghamton (6-33, 1-17 AE) concludes its 2008 season with five of its last seven games at home.
The Boston University (29-17, 15-3 AE) softball team went 3-2 last week, and returned to the top spot in the league standings after a small dip into second place... The Terriers need to take just one game from Albany this upcoming weekend to secure home-field advantage in the America East tournament... Freshman Melanie Delgado (Torrance, Calif./Bishop Montgomery) led with a .600 batting average over five games and added a double and three RBI, while sophomore Rachel Hebert (Humble, Texas/Humble) drove in nine runs on six hits, one double and one home run.. Sophomore Cassidi Hardy (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter) went undefeated in two appearances and surrendered just one run on five hits to earn a 0.58 ERA... The Terriers dropped two to Maine and Harvard before rebounding with a sweep of Binghamton over the weekend.
Hartford (18-18, 7-11 AE) went 1-3 last week and was officially eliminated from the race for a berth in the upcoming America East Championship. The Hawks dropped a single game at Stony Brook by a 2-0 final to start the week before losing two of three at home against Maine. Hartford took the first game 1-0 but dropped the final two games by scores of 2-1 in eight innings and 12-1 in six innings... Freshman Lauren Kamena (Nesconset, N.Y./Smithtown) drove in the winning run in the first game against the Black Bears. She ranks fifth on the team in batting with a .241 average and 12 RBI... Sophomore pitcher Brittney Stratton (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) earned her 14th victory of the season against Maine. She now ranks third all-time at the school with 30 career wins and is the only pitcher in the program’s Division I history to record double-digit victories in multiple seasons... Junior Amanda Sais (Tustin, Calif./Tustin) leads the Hawks with a .314 batting average and 20 RBI... Hartford wraps up the regular season with mid-week doubleheaders against Rhode Island and Central Connecticut State and a three-game weekend series at Binghamton.
Maine (11-36, 10-8 AE) went 3-1 last week, including pulling off a come-from-behind 13-9 win over first-place Boston University on Wednesday at Mike Kessock Field in Orono ... the Black Bears also took 2-of-3 at Hartford this past weekend to improve to 10-8 in conference play ... against the Terriers, Maine fell behind 7-1 early, but used a nine-run sixth inning to pull off one of the greatest wins in program history ... after dropping the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader to Hartford, 1-0, Maine rallied to win the final two games of the series, including a 2-1 triumph in eight innings in the second game and a 12-1 victory in just six innings on Sunday ... for the week, Whitney Spangler (Canton, Ohio/Central Catholic H.S.) led Maine with a .429 batting average and posted a .500 slugging percentage and a .500 on-base percentage ... Alexis Souhlaris (Derry, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) batted .353 with two home runs and four RBIs ... her first homer of the week proved to be the game-winning run in the eighth inning of Saturday’s 2-1 triumph over the Hawks ... she also blasted a homer in Sunday’s win ... Ashley Waters (Amesbury, Mass./Amesbury H.S.) batted .357 with a home run and two RBIs ... in Sunday’s win, Waters had three hits, including a home run, double and a single ... she leads America East with 10 home runs on the season ... Kristen Calvetti (Milford, N.H./Milford H.S.) smacked a grand slam on Sunday ... junior pitcher Jenna Balent (Conifer, Colo./Conifer H.S.) started all four games last week for Maine and posted a 2-1 record with a 1.50 earned run average ... in the three-game series at Hartford, Balent combined to allow just three runs on 17 hits ... she didn’t yield more than a run in each of the three starts at Hartford ... Maine returns home this upcoming weekend to close out the regular season ... the Black Bears will play host to UMBC in a three-game series, with the winner of the series clinching a playoff spot in the America East Championship next weekend.
UMBC (20-26, 9-9 AE) went 2-2 in four America East Conference games last week, defeating Binghamton, 5-0, on Wednesday, then dropping a series to Vermont, two games to one... Senior catcher Kali Shirk (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) collected her 200th career hit against the Bearcats, becoming just the seventh Retriever in the exclusive club and joining senior second baseman Dana Shepherd (Columbia, Md./Oakland Mills)... Freshman hurler Stephanie Weigman (Elkridge, Md./Archbishop Spalding) tossed her second career shutout, blanking Binghamton on three hits while striking out eight, one shy of her career high... For the week, Weigman posted a miniscule 0.43 ERA and struck out 21 batters in 16.1 innings of work... Senior pitcher Ashley Gray (Pasadena, Md./Northeast/Delaware State) led the Retrievers on the mound and at the plate in the second game of the Vermont doubleheader, going 3-for-4 with three RBI and two doubles while holding the Catamounts to two runs on six hits with a season-high nine strikeouts in the complete game victory... UMBC went 9-for-10 on the base paths last week, with Shirk and Shepherd each swiping four bases in four attempts... Four Retrievers are batting better than .300 in conference play, led by Shepherd at .397... The Retrievers travel to Delaware for a doubleheader Wednesday before closing out the regular season with a three-game series at America East rival Maine over the weekend.
Sophomore Alyssa Struzenberg (Cooper City, Fla.) extended her scoreless-inning streak to 23 as she four-hit the University of Hartford Wednesday at University Field. Stony Brook (26-18-1, 11-7 AE) used a two-run third inning to win the game, 2-0... Junior Kelsi Fanelli led the Seawolves offensively against Hartford, going 2-for-3.... Sophomore Casey Jacobs (Davie, Fla.) recorded six strikeouts in seven innings, as Stony Brook beat Albany 4-0 in game two of a doubleheader Saturday... Fanelli drove in two runs in game two on Saturday while junior Molly Kestranek (St. Mary’s, Ga.) was 2-for-3 with an RBI... A three-run home run by Kestranek in the bottom of the sixth inning proved to be the difference as Stony Brook softball topped Albany 4-2 Sunday.
Vermont (13-25, 6-12 AE) went 2-3 last week, which included taking two of three in a home weekend series against UMBC ... The Cats opened the week with a doubleheader against Albany on Wednesday ... In the opener senior Aimee Kern (Wrentham, Mass./King Philip) was the tough-luck loser in a 1-0 game, as the Great Danes scored the only run of the contest on a sacrifice fly in the fifth ... After playing their first 33 games on the road, Wednesday was the Cats’ home opener ... Vermont earned a split on Saturday against UMBC, as Kern gave up two runs on three hits in the first inning of the opener but limited the Retrievers to only two the rest of the way in a 3-2 UVM victory ... Senior Kate Haber (Riverwoods, Ill./Deerfield) and junior Jeanine Connolly (West Bridgewater, Mass./West Bridgewater) each had RBI singles in the deciding fifth inning in the win ... Vermont took the rubber game on Sunday as senior Elena Rizza (Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) broke a 2-2 tie with a three-run double in the bottom of the third to lead the Cats ... Kern pitched well as for the second straight day she gave up two runs on three hits in the first, but then held the Retrievers hitless the rest of the way ... The Catamounts return to action on Wednesday when they play host to Dartmouth for a doubleheader starting at 3:00pm and then wrap up the regular season with a three-game home set vs. Stony Brook this weekend.