Stony Brook University, the 2008 America East Softball champions, will get to defend the title on its home diamond as the Seawolves took 2-of-3 from University at Albany to secure the program's first-ever regular-season crown and the top seed for the upcoming America East Championship. Boston University, Albany and UMBC locked remaining spots in the double-elimination tournament, which begins Thursday at Stony Brook.
The Seawolves (35-12, 15-5 America East) broke the school record for wins in a season that was set just last year. Stony Brook, which is 20-2 at home this season, downed Albany 5-0 in the opener of a doubleheader yesterday and clinched the top seed when Boston University dropped the nightcap of its twinbill at Binghamton University. Alyssa Struzenberg got both wins on the mound allowing just two runs in 12 innings while striking out 14.
Boston U. (38-16, 14-6) used a nine-run second inning to clinch the No. 2 seed with an 11-0 shutout over the Bearcats. Freshman Emily Roesch had four hits in as many at-bats and drove in a pair of runs, while senior Shayne Lolito delivered two hits and two RBI.
Albany (36-14, 12-7), which has won three of the last four titles, took one of three from Stony Brook and will be seeded third for the tournament. Kristine Bill hit a two-run home run and Marissa Powell fired a four-hit shutout in a 2-0 win over the Seawolves Saturday.
UMBC (34-19, 12-8) clobbered Hartford to sweep their rain-shortened weekend series and earn its fourth straight tournament bid. The Retrievers shut out the Hawks in both games, taking the opener 11-0 in five innings and the nightcap 8-0 in six. Stephanie Weigman hurled all 11 innings to improve to 22-14 on the season and became UMBC's all-time strikeout leader with 18 punchouts on the day.
This will mark the first time each tournament participant has won at least 34 games entering the championship. Following Thursday's doubleheader, three games will be played Friday, while the championship game (games if necessary) will take place Saturday. Stay tuned to AmericaEast.com for complete updates throughout the tournament.