CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - A trio of America East softball standouts have received weekly awards after a wet weekend of action, which saw three of the four season-opening conference series cut short due to weather. University Hartford's Ann Kyzer (Boxborough, Mass./Acton-Boxborough Reg.) batted .545 in four victories last week to earn Player of the Week honors, while Boston University's Cassidi Hardy (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter) did not allow a run in two wins to take home Pitcher of the
Week accolades. UMBC's Kaela Mason (Bel Air, Md./Hartford Tech) rounded out the selections by providing a pair of key pinch hits to receive Rookie of the Week recognition. The awards for the week ending March 29 were announced on Monday.
A junior catcher, Kyzer, belted four extra-base hits, scored five runs and drove in six for the Hawks last week. She accounted for two of the four runs Hartford scored in identical 2-1 wins over Holy Cross Tuesday, providing a run-scoring single in the third inning of the opener and belting a two-out solo homer to break a scoreless deadlock in the fourth inning of nightcap. She went 4-for-5 in two wins over Vermont on Saturday, going 2-for-3 with her second home run in as many games and four RBI in the opener and reaching base all three times in the nightcap on a pair of doubles and a walk. Kyzer, who scored three runs in the 10-2 win, is in the midst of a six-game hit streak.
Hardy, who has already hurled a pair of no-hitters this season, came close again last week hurling a one-hit shutout against ACC foe and crosstown-rival Boston College on Wednesday. The junior right-hander struck out eight and walked three in the win. Hardy followed that performance with by allowing one unearned run over nine innings to outduel Albany's Leah McIntosh in a 3-1 extra-inning Terrier victory. She allowed just five hits, walked none and fanned five.
Mason, a freshman first baseman for the Retrievers, made the most of her opportunities by delivering a pair of key pinch hits over the weekend. She keyed a three-run rally with a pinch-hit RBI double down the left field line in the second inning of a 4-2 win over Towson Tuesday. She also belted a pinch-hit three-run blast in the sixth inning of the series opener against Maine, which tied the game at four apiece before Maine countered with two in the seventh. Mason wrapped up her stellar week with an RBI single and a run scored in a 7-4 win over the Black Bears Sunday, which gave the Retrievers a series win.
Team-By-Team Notebook
Albany (14-8, 1-1 America East) won three of its four games this past week ... The squad swept Siena in its home opener with a pair of 2-0 decisions, and split its America East opening twinbill on the road at Boston U. ... The Great Danes dropped a nine-inning marathon, 3-1, in game one, and won by a 10-7 score in game two versus the Terriers ... UAlbany has now won four of its five matchups against BU over the past two seasons ... Junior pitchers Leah McIntosh (Whitby, Ontario/Sinclair) and Marissa Powell (Midlothian, Texas/Midlothian) each pitched a shutout in the sweep of the Saints ... McIntosh matched a career high with 18 strikeouts despite being credited with the loss to the Terriers, and posted 27 strikeouts in 15 innings this week ... Meagan Butsch (Tomball, Texas/Tomball) drove in both of the game-winning runs in the Siena series ... She also singled and scored a run in the decisive sixth inning in the 10-7 win over BU ... In the victory over the Terriers, UAlbany hit three home runs in a game for the first time since defeating UMBC, 9-4, in Baltimore on April 7, 2008 .. Gina Mason’s (Sacramento, Calif./El Camino) three-run shot proved to be the game-winning hit, while Kristine Bill (Woodland, Calif./Woodland) and Michelle Connors (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa) also went yard ... The Great Danes have seven games scheduled for the upcoming week ... The squad travels to face Marist on March 31 and Iona on April 1 before returning home to face Hartford in a three-game series on April 4-5.
Binghamton (3-14, 0-2 America East) went 1-3 last week, splitting a doubleheader at home with Marist before falling at Stony Brook twice in its America East opener ... Binghamton defeated Marist 7-6 in the first game of a doubleheader on Wednesday ... In that game, sophomore Kelly Shuldt (Lisle, N.Y./Whitney Point) hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth to help earn Binghamton a victory ... Junior pitcher Cyrilla Suker (Voorheesville, N.Y./ UMass Lowell) earned the win in that game ... Marist was able to earn the split in the doubleheader by defeating Binghamton 5-4 ... Marist led throughout the game, but solo shot home runs by senior Sandy Meadows (Huachuca City, Ariz/Buena) and freshman Meghan Tucker (Kirkwood, N.Y./Windsor) keyed a late rally for the Bearcats, but it wasn't enough to come all the way back ... Over the weekend, Binghamton was overpowered at Stony Brook 8-0 and 13-2 before the final game of the series was postponed until Monday, March 30 due to inclement weather ... On the week, junior Shannon McLeese (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Daytona Beach CC) was the Bearcats top hitter, batting .400 ... As of March 24, Meadows was ranked second in the conference in hitting with a .442 batting average and was ranked first in hits per game (1.46) ... Binghamton is planning to wrap up its weekend series at Stony Brook on Monday and will follow that with a doubleheader at Siena on Tuesday ... The Bearcats will look to get back on track with their conference schedule this weekend when they travel to Vermont for a three-game series.
Boston University (20-8, 1-1 America East) went 4-1 last week with wins over Boston College, Rhode Island and Albany ... The Terriers began the week with a 5-0 shutout over the Eagles in Chestnut Hill, Mass., as junior Cassidi Hardy (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter) threw a complete-game shutout with eight strikeouts, while allowing just one hit ... Hardy followed up that performance with a nine-inning victory over Albany on Saturday, as she and UA’s Leah McIntosh went toe-to-toe in a pitcher’s duel for the extra-inning contest ... In that game, she recorded seven strikeouts to improve to 9-3 this season ... Hardy did not give up an earned run all week ... Senior Shayne Lotito (Acton, Calif./Vasquez) led on the offensive front, hitting .579 over five games to go along with four stolen bases ... Lotito owns a season-high hitting streak of 10 games and has safely reached base in 14 straight games ... After a sweep of URI, the Terriers hosted their conference opener as the Great Danes came to town for a two-game series ? Sunday’s rubber match was canceled due to weather conditions ... In the first game, BU claimed the 3-1 win on a walk-off home run by sophomore April Setterlund (Torrance, Calif./South Torrance), but fell, 10-7, in the second game, despite a late seventh-inning rally that cut the lead from six to three.
Hartford (8-9,, 2-0 America East) went 4-0 with a sweep of Holy Cross on Wednesday and two wins over Vermont on Saturday ... The Hawks have won five of its last six games ... Leading the Hawks at the plate was junior Ann Kyzer (Boxborough, Mass./Acton-Boxborough Regional), who combined to hit .545 (6-of-11) with two doubles and two homers over the span of four games ... In game one against Holy Cross, junior hurler Brittney Stratton (Statten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) threw for eight innings, striking out three to lead the Hawks to a 2-1 extra-inning victory ... Sophomore Lauren Kamena (Nesconset, N.Y./Smithtown) drove in the winning run on a sacrifice ... Center fielder Kristen Cericola (Morton, Pa./Ridley) led the Hawks’ offense, finishing 2-for-3 in the game with two stolen bases ... In game two, Kyzer batted 2-for-3 with a game-high 4 RBI, including a solo shot ? her first of the season ... Rookie Siera Sheehan (Binghamton, N.Y./Chenango Valley) gave up just one run on five hits with five strikeouts ... In a 5-1 Hartford win, Kyzer extended her hitting streak to six games with her second home run in as many games in the opener against Vermont on Saturday ... She finished 2-for-4 with a game-high 4 RBI ... Stratton picked up her fifth win of the season, giving up one run on five hits while striking out a season-high 12 batters and walking none ... The Hawks took game two from the Catamounts in five innings by a final of 10-2 ... Sheehan earned the win, her third of the season .. Shortstop Rachel Clonick (Hilton, N.Y./Hilton) drove in four runs on a 2-for-3 performance at the plate ... The final match of the Hawks’ three-game series with the Catamounts was postponed on Sunday, and will be played on Monday at 1:00 p.m.
Maine (21-15, 1-2 America East) dropped two games in its three-game set at UMBC this weekend ... the Black Bears took the first game of the series on Saturday with a 6-4 triumph ... however, UMBC swept Sunday's doubleheader by scores of 7-4 in game one and 5-0 in game two ... the losses snapped Maine's four-game winning streak ... on Saturday, Stephanie George (Seekonk, Mass./Seekonk H.S.) belted two home runs to lead the Maine offensive attack in the win ... it gave her three homers on the season ... for the weekend, George batted .333 ... Ashley Waters (Amesbury, Mass./Amesbury H.S.) batted .400 on the weekend, including a 2-for-4 effort with a run scored in Saturday's victory ... freshman hurler Ashley Kelley (Hermon, Maine/Hermon
H.S.) came on in relief on Saturday and pitched a scoreless 1.2 innings to earn the win ... Courtney Gingrich (Lititz, Pa./Warwick H.S.) smacked a homer in game one of Sunday's doubleheader for her second blast of the season ... Maine returns home to Kessock Field this weekend f or its first home games of the season ... the Black Bears will play host to defending America East champion Stony Brook in a three-game set, which begins on Saturday with a double-dip at 12 p.m. ... the series will conclude on Sunday with a single game beginning at 11 a.m.
UMBC (20-11, 2-1 America East) went 3-2 last week, splitting a doubleheader with cross-town rival Towson and taking two of three from America East foe Maine... Sophomore Stephanie Weigman (Elkridge, Md./Archbishop Spalding) took a three-hit shutout into the seventh inning of a 4-2 Game 1 victory over the Tigers... The Retrievers dropped the nightcap, 6-1... A pinch-hit three-run home run by freshman Kaela Mason (Bel Air, Md./Harford Tech) ? the first round-tripper of her career ? erased a three-run deficit in the sixth inning in the first game against the Black Bears, but Maine scored two unearned runs in the seventh and UMBC lost its conference opener, 6-4... The Retrievers bounced back to win the series, sweeping a doubleheader the next day... Sophomore second baseman Lauren Brummell (Hanover, Va./Hanover) led off the first game with a home run, and junior first baseman Amanda Fefel (Baltimore, Md./Catonsville) capped a six-run second with a grand slam... It was the 25th home run of her career, the fifth-best total in school history... Weigman earned the save after throwing 2.2 scoreless innings in relief, then returned for the nitchap to throw a complete-game four-hit shutout, striking out nine... Weigman has struck out 152 batters this season, just 20 shy of the school record... Fefel leads the Retrievers in batting average (.466), hits (41), homers (5), RBI (28), total bases (64), slugging percentage (.727), walks (13) and on-base percentage (.534) this season... Her 17-game hitting streak ? the longest by a Retriever since 2006 ? was snapped in the final game of the Maine series... UMBC hosts cross-town rival Morgan State in a doubleheader on April 2, then hits the road for the first time in more than a month to take on America East rival Boston University in a three-game series April 4-5.
Stony Brook (18-3, 2-0 America East) extended its winning streak to 14-straight games, going a perfect 6-0 on the week, including two conference victories... the Seawolves started the week off with a pair of non-conference home wins against Rhode Island, outscoring the Rams 16-0... seniors Marissa Fleury and Molly Kestranek both had a three-RBI game in the doubleheader against Rhode Island... the following day Stony Brook traveled to Monmouth, winning both games by a score of 4-2... the Seawolves’ pitching staff did not allow an earned run in the doubleheader... Stony Brook then opened its America East schedule with a doubleheader against Binghamton on Saturday... the Seawolves run-ruled the Bearcats in both games... junior Crista Cerrone hit her first home run of her career in game one, then ended the game the next inning with her second homer... junior Kendall Blumenthal had the best game of her career, going 3-for-3 with three RBI in game one... in game two, junior Vicki Kavitsky and senior Kelly Oberto both had four RBI... Kavitsky, Oberto and Fleury all homered in the game... the final game of the series was postponed till Monday due to rain... this week, the Seawolves have a non-conference doubleheader against Rutgers, before traveling to Maine for the weekend.
Vermont (3-20, 0-2 America East) went 0-2 on the week, dropping a pair of contests at Hartford in the America East openers for both teams ... The Cats scored their only run of the first game in the sixth inning, as with one out freshman Rebecca Heimbigner (Napa, Calif./New Technology) tripled and then came in to score when classmate Bree Cassidy (Mission Viejo, Calif./ Mission Viejo) singled to left ... Vermont scored its first run of the second contest in the top of the third, as with one out junior Rachelle Boone (Brentwood, Calif./Liberty) knocked in sophomore Caroline Goddard (Oakland, Calif./Piedmont) with a base hit ... Senior Alison Daggett (Fort Collins, Colo./Fort Collins) was responsible for Vermont’s final run of the day as she hit a solo blast in the top of the fourth ... Daggett moved into a tie for fourth place all-time in home runs at Vermont, as she now has eight for her career ... The Cats wrap up a three-game set with Hartford on Monday, after Sunday’s game was rained out ... Vermont also travels to Massachusetts for a doubleheader on Thursday (2 p.m.) and then hosts Binghamton this weekend in its home opener ... The Cats and Bearcats will play two on Saturday (12 p.m.) and then a single game on Sunday (12 p.m.).