CAMBRIDGE, Mass.- Opening the 2009 softball season, Stony Brook University’s Vicki Kavitsky (Cherry Hill, N.J.) batted an impressive .643 in the week ending March 1, earning the season’s first America East Player of the Week honors. University at Albany’s Leah McIntosh (Whitby, Ontario/Sinclair) earned Pitcher of the Week with a 0.26 ERA and Boston University’s Emily Roesch (Palm Beach, Fla./Palms Beach Garden) earned the first Rookie of the Week nod of her collegiate career.
Kavitsky led the defending America East Champions to a 4-1 start, its best since joining Division I, including victories over two Big East opponents. Homering in her first at bat of the season, the junior recorded three triples, a double and three RBIs in 14 at bats. Against Villanova, Kavitsky hit a walk-off triple to give Stony Brook the 6-5 victory.
McIntosh is unbeaten in five appearances with the Great Danes, throwing 34 complete innings and giving up only one run. The junior has thrown four shutouts including a perfect game against Rhode Island in which she struck out 12 of the 15 batters she face. She also held South Florida, the Big East’s regular season champions in 2008, to one hit.
Roesch had made a strong first impression during her first week with the Terriers, who went 5-1 on the west coast. her first six at bats with the Terriers during their trip to the west coast, recording four hits and driving in two RBIs for an impressive .667 average.
Weekly Notebook
Albany (6-6) traveled to Florida for their first 12 games of the regular season ... The Great Danes opened the season at Stetson’s Hatter Invitational from Feb. 13-15 with Bethune-Cookman and also competed at South Florida’s The Game Tournament from Feb. 20-22 ... At South Florida, UAlbany faced Eastern Michigan and Rhode Island before squaring off against a trio of NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago in then-No. 25 Louisville, South Florida and Jacksonville State ... UAlbany also played a doubleheader against North Florida ... The team has been led by Leah McIntosh (Whitby, Ontario/Sinclair) so far this year ... She has a 5-0 record with an 0.26 ERA and four shutouts ... The junior blanked Bethune-Cookman, North Florida, Rhode Island and South Florida ... Her best performance came when she pitched a perfect game in a 12-0 win over Rhode Island, fanning 12 of the 15 batters she faced ... She also hurled a one-hit shutout of South Florida, last year’s Big East regular-season champion which was receiving votes in the national polls ... Leading a struggling offense which is batting just .204 so far this season has been sophomore Gina Mason (Sacramento, Calif./El Camino) ... After batting .222 last year, she has a .385 average this season while also matching or posting team highs for hits (10), runs batted in (7), on-base percentage (.467) and slugging percentage (.538) ... UAlbany will compete at Georgia Tech’s Buzz Classic from March 6-8 against Centenary, Jacksonville State, Bowling Green, Kennesaw State and Akron.
Binghamton (2-2) began its 2009 season by splitting two games with both Brown and St. Mary's (Calif.) at the Gael Classic, before having its final game against Utah Valley rained out ... Binghamton first lost to Brown 9-1 in six innings on Friday before avenging the defeat with a 1-0 win over Brown the next day ... Senior center fielder Sandy Meadows (Huachucha City, Ariz/.Buena) homered for Binghamton's only run in the 9-1 loss ... Freshman pitcher Kristen Emerling (Germantown, Tenn./Germantown) threw a complete game shutout in her collegiate debut in the 1-0 win over Brown ... The right-hander scattered four hits and struck out two and only allowed one runner to reach third base ... Meadows also scored the lone run for the Bearcats in that game, crossing home on a double steal in the first inning ... St. Mary's (Calif.) defeated Binghamton 8-0 in six innings on Friday before the Bearcats won the rematch on Sunday 4-3 ... In Binghamton's win over St. Mary's, freshman pitcher Megan Tucker (Kirkwood, N.Y./Windsor) earned the win on the mound and also scored two runs offensively for BU ... Sophomore Stephanie DeLuca (Yonkers, N.Y./Ursuline) hit a RBI double to get BU on the board in the second inning ... Junior pitcher Cyrilla Suker (Voorheesville, N.Y./Voorheesville/UMass-Lowell) came into the game in the sixth with a 4-3 lead and retired six of seven batters to earn the save ... Meadows was 5-for-11 on the weekend with three runs scored and has a seven-game hitting streak dating back to last season.
Boston University (5-1) opened its 2009 campaign with a 5-1 weekend in San Jose, Calif. After losing its first game to host San Jose State, the squad rattled off five-straight wins, backed by strong play from senior Shayne Lotito (Acton, Calif./Vasquez), who hit .450 over six games with nine hits, six RBI and five stolen bases. The Terriers’ pitching staff had a solid weekend, highlighted by junior hurler pitcher Cassidi Hardy with two wins, a 0.91 ERA and 10 strikeouts. The Terriers head to Clearwater, Fla., next weekend for the USF Under Armour Invitational. They will face off with Villanova and Western Michigan on day one and Robert Morris on day two.
Hartford (0-0) opens its season on March 13 with games against Iowa, Stetson and Cornell at the Stetson Classic in DeLand, Fla.
Maine (5-9) is 5-9 following the first month of the 2009 season, and has earned wins against several major conference opponents ... the Black Bears defeated Virginia Tech, 4-1, on Feb. 20 in the Kickin’ Chicken Classic in Conway, S.C. ... it was the same Virginia Tech team that advanced to the 2008 NCAA Softball World Series last spring ... the Black Bears also knocked off MAC-opponent Eastern Michigan, 10-2, on Feb. 27 ... junior outfielder/pitcher Alexis Souhlaris (Derry, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) has been a strong force offensively for the Black Bears ... she is batting .341 with a team-best five home runs and a team-high tying 11 RBIs ... she smacked an inside the park grand slam in Sunday’s contest versus Western Michigan ... Ashley Waters (Amesbury, Mass./Amesbury H.S.) and Terren Hall (Bucksport, Maine/Bucksport H.S.) join Souhlaris as the team leaders in RBIs with 11 ... Waters is batting .326 with six doubles, while Hall is hitting .267 with three doubles ... Waters also has a home run on the season ... Kristen Calvetti (Milford, N.H./Milford H.S.) is leading the team in batting average at .386 ... freshman pitcher Ashley Kelley (Hermon, Maine/Hermon H.S.) has been strong in the circle for the Black Bears as she is 2-2 with a sparkling 1.64 ERA ... she is tied with junior pitcher Jenna Balent (Conifer, Colo./Conifer H.S.) for the team lead in wins with two ... Balent has posted a 2-1 record with an impressive 2.45 ERA.
UMBC (2-6) went 1-4 at the season-opening Campus Suites Spartan Classic... First baseman Malorie Weller (Round Hill, Va./Loudoun Valley/Kennesaw State) hit a two-run homer in a 4-2 loss to host South Carolina-Upstate... Center fielder Julia Culotta (Street, Md./North Harford/Tennessee) hit a two-run homer to account for both of UMBC’s runs in a 3-2 loss to College of Charleston... Krista Kearns (Santa Fe Springs, Calif./Santa Fe) went the distance in a 3-1 loss to the Cougars, giving up two earned runs on six hits and striking out six... After an 8-2 loss to Presbyterian, UMBC’s bats finally came to life in the consolation game, defeating Charleston, 17-1, in five innings... Weller and designated player Amanda Fefel (Baltimore, Md./Catonsville) each hit two-run homers in the first two innings... The Retrievers exploded for nine runs in the third... UMBC pounded out 13 hits in the game, led by Weller (3-for-4, 2RBI, 3R) and Fefel (3-for-3, 3RBI)... Stephanie Weigman (Elkridge, Md./Archbishop Spalding) went the distance to pick up her first victory of the season, allowing one run on five hits while striking out seven... In the first game of the George Washington doubleheader, Weigman pitched her fourth complete game of the season but suffered her third hard-luck loss, allowing just two hits while striking out eight... Weller went 2-for-4 with four RBI, including a two-run homer and a double in the nightcap, a 10-7 loss... Junior catcher Amanda Page (Batavia, N.Y./Batavia/Monroe CC) also hit her first home run of the season... Kearns hit a two-run homer to lead the Retrievers in a 4-3 rain-shortened five-inning win over Iona at the Longwood Spring Classic... Culotta pitched 3.2 effective innings to earn her first collegiate victory, while Fefel picked up the save... The rest of UMBC’s scheduled games at the weekend tournament were cancelled due to inclement weather.
Stony Brook (4-1) got its 2009 season off to a great start, winning its first four games at the University of Central Florida Tournament... The Seawolves finished the week 4-1, its best start in Division I history... Junior Vicky Kavitsky had a phenomenal week, posting a .643 AVG with a double, three triples and home run for a 1.357 slugging percentage... Kavitsky hit a home run in the first at-bat of the season for Stony Brook and had a walk-off triple in the bottom of the ninth inning in a win over Villanova... The Seawolves also beat Syracuse, giving them two victories over BIG EAST schools... Junior Alyssa Struzenberg picked up two wins and struck out 20 batters in 17 innings of work... Senior Molly Kestranek led the team with four RBI, while classmates Marissa Fleury and Kelly Oberto both hit home runs... Junior Kendall Blumenthal went 4-for-9 over the weekend scoring three and driving in three runs.
Vermont (1-4) opened the 2009 season at the Jacksonville Invitational this past weekend, as the Catamounts went 1-4 ... UVM topped Marist, 8-0 in the final game to earn its first win of the season ... Five freshmen made their first career appearance for Vermont in the opener against Marist ... Sophomore Jocelyn Abaray (Acushnet, Mass./ New Bedford) threw a three-hitter and senior Jeanine Connolly (West Bridgewater, Mass./West Bridgewater) hit a three-run home run to help the Cats earn their first win of the season ... The Catamounts top four hitters in the order combined to go 6-for-12 with six runs batted in ... The Catamounts return to action on Friday when they travel to take part in the Stanford Tournament on March 6-8. Vermont will play San Diego State (2:15 p.m.) and Penn State (9 p.m.) on the first day of action.