CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Stony Brook University's Kelsi Fanelli (Audubon, N.J.), University at Albany's Leah McIntosh (Whitby, Ontario/Sinclair) and University of Vermont's Rebecca Heimbigner (Napa, Calif./New Technology) led their softball squads to a combined 6-2 record in conference play of the week and have earned America East honors for the week ending April 5.
Fanelli, the Player of the Week, batted .500 on the week (11-for-22) and rang out four multi-hit efforts to lead the Seawolves to three wins. The senior centerfielder, who also added five extra-base hits with three doubles and a pair of home runs, drove in nine and scored six runs. Fanelli, who has hit safely in 10 straight games, delivered a key three-run blast and four RBI in a 13-6 win over Maine Sunday, which clinched the weekend series for SBU.
McIntosh, the Pitcher of the Week, continued her superb season by hurling her third perfect game. The only pitcher in the nation to have as many perfect games to date, McIntosh struck out 12 and did not walk a batter in the complete-game shutout win over Hartford Sunday. She also threw four one-hit innings of relief and picked up her first save of the season in the Great Danes' 2-1 win over Marist on Tuesday. On the week, McIntosh allowed one hit in 11 scoreless innings, walked none and struck out 22 of the 34 batters she faced.
Heimbigner, the Rookie of the Week, led Vermont to a three-game sweep over Binghamton by batting .400 (8-for-20) with three RBI and three runs scored. Heimbigner, a freshman shortstop, accounted for half of the Catamounts' run in their 10-3 win over the Bearcats Sunday by going 4-for-4 with three RBI and a pair of runs.
Team-By-Team Notebook
Albany (19-9, 2-2 America East) won five of its six games this past week ... The squad swept Iona and Marist on the road to improve to 6-0 against Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opponents before splitting a doubleheader at home versus Hartford ... Leah McIntosh (Whitby, Ontario/Sinclair) pitched her third perfect game of the season, a mark which leads the nation, and her fifth career no-hitter to set a new Division I program record in a 6-0 win over Hartford on a blustery day at Albany Field ... It was the fourth perfect game in the program’s Division I era and the first against an America East opponent ... The second game against Hartford featured eight errors between the two teams ... Marissa Powell (Midlothian, Texas/Midlothian) earned the four other wins in the circle for the Great Danes, finishing the week with a 1.56 earned run average ... Meagan Butsch (Tomball, Texas/Tomball) fell a double short of the cycle in an 11-0 win over Iona ... She also matched a team high with five runs batted in along with Jess Bergin (New Windsor, N.Y./Newburgh) in six games this week, while Andrianna Walraven (Thompson Ridge, N.Y./Pine Bush) stole four bases and scored seven runs ... Michelle Connors (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa) drove in a game-winning run and scored a game-winning run in the two wins over Marist ... She had a .650 on-base percentage and a .462 batting average, both team highs, this week ... UAlbany will play a doubleheader at Vermont on Wednesday, April 8, before returning home to Albany field for a three-game series against UMBC on April 10-11.
Binghamton (3-20, 0-6 America East) went 0-6 last week overall and 0-4 in conference. Binghamton first finished up last weekend's series with Stony Brook with an 8-0 loss on Monday. The Bearcats then dropped a doubleheader at Siena on Tuesday 2-0 and 8-3. Over the weekend the Bearcats traveled to Vermont for a three-game series and were swept, losing 3-1, 10-3 and 2-0. Binghamton has now lost nine straight games, its second nine-game losing streak of the season. Freshman outfielder/pitcher Meghan Tucker (Kirkwood, N.Y./Windsor) was Binghamton's top hitter this week, connecting for five hits. Junior pitcher Cyrilla Suker (Voorheesville, N.Y./ UMass Lowell) fanned 20 batters in 17.1 innings of work. Senior centerfielder Sandy Meadows (Huachuca City, Ariz/Buena) continues to lead the team in hitting on the season with a .320 average. She also leads the team in runs scored (13). This week the Bearcats have a busy eight-game slate. The team will travel to the Baltimore area during the week, playing a doubleheader at Coppin State on Tuesday and a conference doubleheader at UMBC on Wednesday. Binghamton will then play a solo game at Delaware on Thursday. This weekend, Binghamton will host Maine in a conference series with a doubleheader on Saturday and a solo game on Sunday.
Boston University (23-10, 4-1 America East) picked up a crucial three-game sweep of UMBC over the weekend, highlighted by junior Cassidi Hardy’s (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter) third no-hitter of the season on Saturday and freshman Emily Roesch’s (Palm Beach, Fla./Palm Beach Gardens) walk-off two-run homer in the final game of the series on Sunday ... The Terriers opened the series with Hardy’s no-no as she struck out seven batters in the contest and issued just one walk ... Sophomore April Setterlund (Torrance, Calif./South Torrance) smacked a homer and Roesch recorded an inside-the-park home run in the win ... One day later, Setterlund scored the game-winning run in the fifth inning of the first game in the doubleheader, taking advantage of a wild pitch ... In the final game of the series, senior Shayne Lotito (Acton, Calif./Vasquez) hit a two-run home run to give BU the lead with just three outs remaining in the game, however, UMBC responded with a three-run long ball to reclaim the lead in the top of the seventh ... With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Roesch stepped to the plate and delivered the game-winning blow as she went deep for the third time this season ... in the first two games of the week, BU dropped a pair of contests to Big East foes Providence, 6-4, and UConn, 2-1, in eight innings ... Up next for the Terriers is a twinbill with Maine on Wednesday (April 8) at 3 p.m. in Orono.
Hartford (11-11 overall, 4-1 America East) went 3-2 last week with wins over Vermont, Sacred Heart and Albany ... Junior Ann Kyzer (Boxborough, Mass./Acton-Boxborough Regional) led on the offensive front, hitting .500 over five games ... The Hawks began the week with a 7-1 victory over Vermont to complete the three-game sweep, extending their winning streak to six games ... Senior Amanda Sais (Tustin, Ca./Tustin) led Hartford with a game-high three hits (3-for-4) with an RBI and a run scored ... Junior pitcher Brittney Stratton (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) held the Catamounts to just one run while striking out eight ... Hartford split a pair of games with in-state rival Sacred Heart on Wednesday ... Stratton pitched game one, giving up one run off four hits to earn the win ... Kyzer finished 3-for-3, knocking in the game-winning RBI ... In game two, Sacred Heart used three hits to plate two runs in the top of the first for the early advantage in an eventual 3-0 win over Hartford ... Inclement weather postponed Saturday’s doubleheader at Albany to Sunday ... Albany hurler Leah McIntosh threw her third perfect game of the season to lead the Great Danes to a 6-0 win in the first game ... Hartford bounced back to take game two by a 6-2 final ... Stratton recorded eight strikeouts to improve to 8-4 on the season ... Jackie Simonetty (Denville, N.J./Mount Saint Dominic Acad.) and Sara Messinger (New Egypt, N.J./New Egypt) each recorded multi-hit games for the Hawks ... Simonetty went 3-for-3 with a pair of runs and Messinger recorded two runs and two RBI ... The third game of the series with Albany has been cancelled ... Hartford travels to Stony Brook for a doubleheader on Wednesday before hosting Boston University at the UH Softball Field this weekend.
Maine (22-17, 2-4 America East) went 1-2 in its three-game set versus defending conference champion Stony Brook this weekend in Orono ... it marked the 2009 home-opening series for the Black Bears ... Maine dropped Saturday's doubleheader to SBU by a count of 4-1 in game one and 13-6 in game two ... Maine rebounded to win Sunday's series finale by a score of 2-0 ... senior pitcher Jenna Balent (Conifer, Colo./Conifer H.S.) led the way for the Black Bears in the win as she pitched a two-hit, complete-game shutout ... she struck out five, but did walk five batters in the contest ... Balent did find herself in a jam in the fourth inning on Sunday as SBU loaded the bases with only one out ... however, she used her senior poise and induced a pair of outs to get out of the jam and preserve a scoreless tie ... the Black Bears broke through with two runs in the fifth, including RBIs from Terren Hall (Bucksport, Maine/Bucksport H.S.) and Kristen Calvetti (Milford, N.H./Milford H.S.) ...
Balent pitched a 1-2-3 seventh to seal the win for Maine, which snapped a four-game losing streak in the process ... in Saturday's doubleheader, the highlights were home runs from Hall and Stephanie George (Seekonk, Mass./Seekonk H.S.) ... for the weekend, Alexis Souhlaris (Derry, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) batted a team-best .364 with a double ... Maine returns to action this week with a home doubleheader versus Boston University on Wednesday at 3 p.m. ... Maine will also travel to Binghamton this weekend for a three-game set.
UMBC (22-14, 2-4 America East) went 2-3 last week, sweeping a doubleheader from cross-town rival Morgan State on Thursday before dropping three at America East rival Boston University over the weekend... Junior Amanda Fefel (Baltimore, Md./Catonsville) tossed her fifth career shutout ? a one-hitter ? and struck out 10 in UMBC’s 2-0 victory in the first game against the Bears... Fefel picked up her 200th career strikeout and her 25th career win in the game, making her the seventh and 10th Retriever ever to reach those marks, respectively... Fefel also scored both runs in the game and hit a solo homer to help her own cause... Sophomore Stephanie Weigman (Elkridge, Md./Archbishop Spalding) also tossed a one-hitter against the Bears in a 6-1 win in the nightcap... Weigman fanned eight, including the 300th of her career, making her just the third Retriever ever to reach that mark... Sophomore first baseman Lauren O’Malley (Pasadena, Md./Archbishop Spalding) hit a grand slam and drove in five runs in the game... Playing on the road for the first time in more than a month, the Retrievers dropped a 4-0 decision to the Terriers on Saturday before falling, 2-1 and 5-4, on Sunday... Fefel picked up her 150th career hit and 100th career RBI in the doubleheader... She hit a three-run homer to give the Retrievers a brief 4-3 lead in the top of the seventh... Weigman has 169 strikeouts on the season, moving her into a tie for second place on UMBC’s single-season list, just three shy of the school record... UMBC went 20-5 and batted .327 as a team during its month-long homestand... The Retrievers are scheduled for five America East contests this week... They will host Binghamton in a doubleheader on Wednesday, then head to Albany for a three-game weekend series.
Stony Brook (21-6, 5-1 America East) had its 15-game winning streak snapped this week with a pair of mid-week losses to Rutgers... the Seawolves started the week with a win against Binghamton after having the final game of the series postponed due to rain... after the losses to Rutgers, Stony Brooks hit the road again to face Maine in conference action... the Seawolves won both games on Saturday, before dropping the final game on Sunday... Stony Brook pounded out 27 hits during the doubleheader on Saturday, led by senior Kelly Oberto’s six... senior Marissa Fleury hit two homers on Saturday... junior Alyssa Struzenberg threw a complete game in game one, allowing only three hits... Stony Brook’s offense struggled on Sunday, with senior Kelsi Fanelli hitting the only two singles of the game... Fanelli is currently riding a ten-game hitting streak. Stony Brook has a mid-week conference doubleheader against Hartford on Wednesday, then plays a single game against Iona on Thursday... the Seawolves will host Vermont this weekend for a three-game series.
Vermont (6-23, 3-3 America East) went 3-3 on the week, which concluded with a three-game sweep of Binghamton at home ... The Cats completed a three-game set with Hartford on Monday, falling 7-1 ... Vermont also dropped a pair to #23 Massachusetts on the road on Thursday ... Freshman Rebecca Heimbigner (Napa, Calif./New Technology) went 3-for-4 with a run score in the second game against UMass ... After playing their first 26 games of the season on the road, the Catamounts defeated Binghamton 3-1 in their home opener on Saturday ... Junior Rachelle Boone (Brentwood, Calif./Liberty) went 2-for-3 with three RBI and sophomore Jocelyn Abaray (Acushnet, Mass./New Bedford) allowed only one run in the contest ... Vermont finished off the sweep on Sunday, winning 10-3 and 2-0 ... Heimbigner went 4-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored in the 10-3 win, while sophomore Caitlin Monahan (Clarks Summit, Pa./ Abington Heights) threw a complete game shutout in the nightcap ... The sweep was the first for Vermont over a league opponent since it took three straight from the same Binghamton squad during the 2007 season ... Vermont hosts Albany in doubleheader action on Wednesday (2 p.m.) and then travels to Stony Brook for three this weekend.