CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- The Black Bears extended their win streak to four games, including five out of six games, and were led by two weekly award winners as named today for the week ending April 6. Junior infielder Ashley Waters (Amesbury, Mass./Amesbury) earned America East Softball Player of the Week, while Maine rookie Terren Hall (Bucksport, Maine, Bucksport) took home the freshman award for the second straight week. Hartford's sophomore hurler Brittney Stratton (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) earned her second pitching accolade of the season. Click here for full Weekly Release in PDF.
Waters batted .700 this weekend, including blasting a home run in Sunday’s 7-1 win over Binghamton. She is tied for the team lead this season in home runs with six now. Waters posted a 1.300 slugging percentage (three extra base hits) this past weekend and a .727 on-base percentage on her way to helping the Black Bears extend their win streak to four games, all in league play. With seven hits, one walk and four RBI, Waters came around to score seven runs. This is her second such award of the season.
Stratton led the Hawks to a pair of conference victories while going 2-1 in three appearances on the week. The hurler pitched seven shutout innings in a 2-0 win over Vermont, striking out six batters. She also got the win in a 7-6 decision over the Catamounts, giving up only two earned runs while striking out eight. Stratton’s only loss for the week was a 1-0 decision vs. Sacred Heart in which she struck out a season-high 11 batters, bringing her weekly strikeout victim total to 25. She finished with a 1.05 ERA in 20 innings pitched.
Hall earns the award for the second straight week, hitting .625 in three games last week. The rookie blasted a home run on Sunday, her team-high-tying sixth of the season, and also added two doubles to the weekend series. Hall connected for five hits, five RBI and five runs scored and was successful in her only stolen base attempt of the week.
Team Notebooks:
Albany (14-10 overall record, 2-0 America East record) went 4-1 last week, splitting a non-conference doubleheader with Marist, before sweeping two games from Iona and defeating UMBC, 3-2, in the lone America East Conference game of the week... Junior Meagan Butsch (Tomball, Texas/Tomball) led the Great Danes, hitting .467 for the week... She led the team with five runs scored off seven hits, including two doubles and two triples, while also driving in four runs... She also recorded a .867 slugging percentage, while drawing one walk and striking out just one time in 15 at bats... Sophomore righthander Marissa Powell (Midlothian, Texas/Midlothian) went 2-0 with a 0.93 ERA in two complete-game performances last week... Powell led the Great Danes to a 4-0 shutout win over Iona on Wednesday, striking out nine and scattering four hits in a seven-inning performance... She also recorded four strikeouts in a 4-3 extra-inning win over Marist on Tuesday... She allowed just two earned runs in her two appearances, and held opposing teams to a .140 batting average... Powell is now 4-6 on the season... Sophomore Leah McIntosh (Whitby, Ontario/Sinclair) struck out 18 opposing batters in 12.1 innings of work, going 1-0 in two appearances last week... Senior Amber Maisonet (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) recorded her team-leading 13th stolen base of the season, stealing home the first game of the doubleheader with Iona... Maisonet leads the team with a .356 average, recording 26 hits and scoring 16 runs... The Great Danes will continue America East Conference play at UMBC on Monday, finishing a weekend series that was pushed back due to weather... UAlbany will host Vermont in a mid-week conference doubleheader on Wednesday and welcomes Maine over the weekend.
Due to the weather conditions in Orono, the Binghamton-Maine softball series this past weekend was moved to the East Gym Field. Binghamton (4-19, 0-4 AE) was the visiting team for all three games ... Binghamton and Albany will conclude their three-game series on Tuesday, April 15 at Albany.
The Boston University softball team went 4-1 last week to improve to 18-12 overall and 5-1 in the America East... The Terriers carried a ten-game winning streak into its series finale with Stony Brook on Sunday; however, a late rally by the Seawolves ended the run... Junior Christy Leath (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell Central) batted .357 over five games, while freshman April Setterlund (Torrance, Calif./South Torrance) swung at a .333 clip with one home run and two RBI... The pitching staff was solid with sophomore Cassidi Hardy leading, allowing no runs in three appearances... Freshman Kelley Engman (Vienna, Va./Bishop O’Connell) carried a no-hitter the sixth inning against Rhode Island on April 3 and finished with her second shutout of the season, allowing just two hits and one walk in a complete-game effort.
Hartford (13-8 overall, 2-4 AE) picked up its first conference win of the season and took two of three games against Vermont over the weekend. The Hawks won the first game 2-0 on Saturday before splitting a Sunday doubleheader, dropping the first game 3-2 before bouncing back for a 7-6 victory... Sophomore Brittney Stratton (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) picked up both wins in the circle for the Hawks. She threw seven shutout innings in the opener and recorded six strikeouts while giving up only three hits. She then struck out eight in the series finale while giving up only two earned runs. Stratton improved to 9-3 overall on the season and sports a 1.96 ERA... Freshman Lauren Kamena hit safely in all three games against Vermont and finished the week with a team-best .385 batting average. She scored runs in both Hartford wins and drove in her lone run of the week in the one-run loss to Vermont. She now leads the team in hitting on the season with a .364 average... Hartford enters a critical week of conference play with a mid-week doubleheader against Stony Brook and a three-game set at Boston University. The Hawks and Seawolves will play two at the UH Softball Field on Wednesday, April 9 at 2 p.m. Hartford then travels to Boston for the weekend series against the Terriers.
Maine (5-29, 5-1 America East) swept the three-game weekend series from Binghamton, including winning by scores of 12-3, 8-0 and 7-1 ... the first two scores were shortened five-inning affairs on Saturday ... Maine improved to 8-2 in its last 10 America East games dating back to last season and has scored at least seven runs in seven of those eight victories ... the Black Bears have blasted 24 home runs this season after hitting just 19 all of last season ... Ashley Waters (Amesbury, Mass./Amesbury H.S.) and Kristen Calvetti (Milford, N.H./Milford H.S.) each batted .700 this weekend, while Terren Hall (Bucksport, Maine/Bucksport H.S.) logged a .625 batting average ... Waters had a double, triple, home run and drove in four runs during the weekend ... Calvetti drove in a team-best seven runs this weekend ... Hall had two doubles and five runs driven in ... Alexis Souhlaris (Derry, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) and Whitney Spangler (Canton, Ohio/Central Catholic H.S.) each batted .444 for the weekend ... Souhlaris had a home run and three RBIs for the weekend, while Spangler drove in a tally ... Maine pitching also turned in a strong performance over the weekend ... In addition to her outstanding offensive performance, Souhlaris pitching a complete-game victory in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader to earn her first collegiate victory ... Jenna Balent (Conifer, Colo./Conifer H.S.) turned in two complete game victories over the weekend, including allowing just three hits and one unearned run in Sunday’s victory ... for the weekend, Balent struck out 12 and walked just three ... Maine returns to action this week with a doubleheader at Boston University on Wednesday, and a three-game series at Albany on Saturday and Sunday.
UMBC (14-18, 3-1 AE) split a doubleheader with Georgetown on April 2, then dropped the first game of a three-game series with America East rival Albany on April 6... The Retrievers and Great Danes will play a doubleheader on Monday to complete the series... UMBC will then head to conference foe Binghamton for a doubleheader on Wednesday before returning home for a three-game series against league rival Stony Brook this weekend... Senior pitcher Ashley Gray (Pasadena, Md./Northeast/Delaware State) hit a three-run home run to lead the Retrievers to a nine-inning 4-3 victory in the first game against Georgetown... Freshman right fielder Julia Culotta (Street, Md./North Harford) hit her first career home run in the nightcap, but UMBC lost, 6-4... Gray and senior second baseman Dana Shepherd (Columbia, Md./Oakland Mills) each hit solo home runs in the Retrievers’ 3-2 loss to Albany... Freshman Stephanie Weigman (Elkridge, Md./Archbishop Spalding) picked up the decision in all three games, posting a 2.40 ERA with nine strikeouts in 11.2 innings while holding batters to a .213 average... Six of Shepherd’s last nine hits over a six-game span have gone for extra bases... Gray has hit four homers and driven in 13 runs in her last eight games... She is batting .500 (11-for-22) and slugging 1.045 during her eight-game hitting streak... Shepherd is batting .435 (10-for-23) and slugging 1.043 with 24 total bases, 10 runs and seven RBI during her seven-game hitting streak.
Stony Brook (15-14-1, 2-4 AE) Went 3-3 on the week with victories over Fordham, Rutgers and Boston University. Sophomore Alyssa Struzenberg (Cooper City, Fla.) threw a complete game for Stony Brook, as the Seawolves topped Fordham, 4-2, at Bahoshy Field in Bronx, N.Y. Sophomore Vicki Kavitsky (Cherry Hill, N.J.) went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI as the Stony Brook Seawolves topped Rutgers, 10-5, in game one of a doubleheader. Junior Marissa Fleury (Mahopac, N.Y.) hit a walk-off RBI single to right-centerfield in the bottom of the eighth inning to give Stony Brook a, 2-1, win over Boston University.
Vermont (6-17, 1-5 AE) had its home opening series against America East rival Hartford moved to West Hartford, Conn. due to unplayable field conditions in Burlington ... The Hawks took two out of three from the Catamounts over the weekend, winning the opener 2-0 and the finale 7-6 ... Vermont won the middle game, its first conference victory of the season, 3-2 ... Senior Aimee Kern (Wrentham, Mass./King Philip) gave up only one earned run in the win and knocked in a pair at the plate ... Kern went the distance and moves into first place all-time at Vermont in complete games (68), passing Katie Quinn ’92, giving up only four hits and striking out five in the contest ... Junior Jeanine Connolly (West Bridgewater, Mass./West Bridgewater) delivered the big hit with a pinch-hit sacrifice fly in the sixth that broke a 2-2 tie ... In the opener Kern pitched well for the Catamounts as she scattered five hits and matched a career-high with 14 strikeouts, but two Hawk runs in the fifth with two outs proved to be the difference ... The Catamounts return to action on Tuesday for a doubleheader at Siena starting at 3:00pm that was rescheduled from April 1 ... Vermont will also play a doubleheader at Albany (2:00pm) the next afternoon and wraps up a busy week with a three-game set at Binghamton on April 12-13.