CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - A trio of America East softball standouts that will compete for the conference title this weekend have earned the final weekly awards of 2009. Stony Brook University's Kelly Oberto (Spring Lake Heights, N.J./Manasquan) was tabbed Player of the Week, while UMBC's Stephanie Weigman (Baltimore, Md./Catonsville) earned Pitcher of the Week honors and Boston University's Emily Roesch (Palm Beach, Fla./Palms Beach Garden) took home Rookie of the Week accolades for Monday, May 4.
Oberto, a senior third baseman, led the Seawolves to three wins in four games last week and the program's first-ever America East regular-season title. She batted .545 in four games and belted three home runs, including a pair of three-run shots in two wins over Albany that clinched the crown and the top seed for the conference tournament. Oberto, who ranks in the league's top 10 with a .341 batting average and 31 RBI, also drove in nine and scored four runs last week.
Weigman, who is tied for the league lead in wins with 22 this season, hurled a pair of complete-game shutouts against Hartford to send UMBC to the conference tournament for the fourth straight season. In 11 innings of work, Weigman allowed just three hits and struck out 18. Just a sophomore, Weigman eclipsed the program's all-time strikeout mark and now has 425 punchouts in her career.
Roesch, the conference's leading rookie hitter with a .286 average, batted .400 in five games last week. She went a perfect 4-for-4 with a double, a run scored and two driven in against Binghamton Sunday. The 11-0 win clinched the No. 2 seed for the Terriers.
Continue to visit AmericaEast.com all week for the latest softball information. The All-Conference teams will be released Wednesday at 2 p.m., while the championship gets underway Thursday at 1 p.m.
Team-By-Team Notebook
Albany (36-14, 12-7 America East) went 5-2 overall and 1-2 in league play this past week and matched the all-time school record for wins in season ... The team, which also won 36 games in 2006, swept doubleheaders against Siena and Bryant before dropping two of three games against Stony Brook ... The Great Danes, seeded third, will compete in the America East Conference Tournament for the eighth time in as many seasons ... UAlbany has never finished lower than fourth in the standings, and has advanced to the championship game five times in the last six years ... The team has also defeated all three teams in the tournament at least once this season ... Marissa Powell (Midlothian, Texas/Midlothian) went 5-1 on the hill this week ... She gave up one earned run in her first five starts, which included shutting out Stony Brook on Saturday, before giving up 10 runs (nine earned) in the regular season finale ... Kristine Bill (Woodland, Calif./Woodland) hit the game-winning home run in the 2-0 victory over the Seawolves to help the Great Danes secure a spot in the postseason ... She finished the week with a team-best .389 batting average ... Leah McIntosh (Whitby, Ontario/Sinclair) will enter this week’s double-elimination tournament needing just 18 strikeouts to break Casey Halloran’s single-season Division I program record of 252 ... She already broke Halloran’s career mark last week ... Meagan Butsch (Tomball, Texas/Tomball), UAlbany’s all-time home runs leader, was honored for her contributions to the program before Sunday’s regular season finale against the Seawolves.
Binghamton (7-36, 2-19 America East) wrapped up its 2009 season with a 1-4 week. The highlight of the 2009 America East schedule for the Bearcats came on Saturday when Binghamton pulled off a come-from-behind win over second place Boston University, 4-3 ... The Bearcats trailed 3-0 in the game and got the win on a walk-off double in the bottom of the seventh by senior second baseman Sandy Meadows (Huachuca City, Ariz./Buena) ... Freshman Kristen Emerling (Germantown, Tenn./Houston) earned the win in the circle for the Bearcats and struck out six batters ... The Bearcats did not fare as well in the other two games of the series against Boston U, losing the opener 3-1 and dropping the finale 11-0 ... Binghamton was also swept earlier this week by Niagara 1-0, 6-2 ... In the opener against Niagara, junior Cyrilla Suker (Voorheesville, N.Y./ UMass Lowell) held the Purple Eagles to two hits and struck out 10 but earned the tough 1-0 loss ... Sophomore Deannie Plemon (Irving, Calif./Woodbridge) continued her hot hitting this week, batting .429 with two RBI ... Over the final 11 games of the season, Plemon batted .367 (11-for-30) while slugging .700 ... Suker finished the season with 140 strikeouts, just three off the single season record ... Meadows' final game was the 167th of her career, which moved her into sole possession of the all-time Bearcat D1 list for most games played ... She also graduates as the all-time leader in walks and stolen bases and ranks in the top five in career hits and runs.
Boston University (38-16, 14-6 America East) softball team secured the No. 2 seed in the America East Softball Championship with two wins over Binghamton this weekend ... The Terriers, who are now 38-16 overall and 14-6 in the America East, broke a team record for wins in a season with its first win on Saturday afternoon against the Bearcats ... Earlier in the week, head coach Shawn Rychcik became the program’s all-time winningest coach and he is now 156-101 (.607) in five seasons with the Terriers ... BU began the week with a pair of non-conference wins over Boston College, 1-0, and Harvard, 3-2 ... Against the Crimson, senior Melissa Dubay (Auburn, Wash./Auburn Riverside) collected her 200th hit with a two-run triple in the third inning ... Junior Cassidi Hardy (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter) pitched 17 frames last week and is now just one inning away from breaking the career record for innings pitched ... In three appearances, she allowed just three earned runs on 12 hits, while fanning 19 batters.
Hartford (19-22, 9-9 America East) went 1-3 in the final week of the regular season, taking one of two against in-state rival Central Connecticut on Thursday before dropping a twinbill with UMBC on Saturday ... Hartford defeated Central Connecticut by a 3-2 final in game one before falling 3-1 to the Blue Devils game two on Wednesday ... Junior hurler Brittney Stratton (Staten Island, N.Y./Totttenville) fanned nine batters to boost her overall record to 14-9 in the Hawks’ game on win ... Hartford was blanked by UMBC in two contests on Saturday, falling 9-0 in the first game and 8-0 in the nightcap ... The Hawks managed just three hits off of UMBC pitcher Stephanie Weigman, who combined to throw 11 scoreless innings on Saturday ... Senior Amanda Sais (Tustin, Ca./Tustin) highlighted the afternoon for the Hawks, notching one of Hartford’s three hits to become the program’s all-time leader in career hits with 158 ... The right fielder closed out the 2009 campaign leading the Hawks with a .315 batting average, 23 runs, and 39 hits ... Sais also ranks at the top of Hartford’s record books in career runs (91), at-bats (510) and games (170) ... The Hawks’ season finale with UMBC on Sunday was canceled due to rain ... Hartford’s five seniors (Lindsey Anrico, Kristen Cericola, Kayla Demarest, Cate Granato and Sais) graduate with 79 career wins (79-92; 0.462), becoming the all-time winningest class in the softball program’s Division I history.
Maine (32-22, 12-9 America East) took 2-of-3 this past weekend from Vermont ... the Black Bears concluded their 2009 season with a 32-22 record, which was a 21-win improvement over the 11-39 record in 2008 ... Courtney Gingrich (Lititz, Pa./Warwick
H.S.) led the way for Maine on the weekend by batting a team-high .444 with one homer and three RBIs ... she concluded her senior season with a career-high five home runs ... Gingrich also posted an .889 slugging percentage during the weekend ...
Jenna Balent (Conifer, Colo./Conifer H.S.) went 2-1 on the weekend with a 2.38 ERA ... she concluded her season with a 14-5 record, which tied her career-high for wins in a season ... Ashley Waters (Amesbury, Mass./Amesbury H.S.) hit .375 on the weekend to conclude her brilliant collegiate career ... the 2008 America East Player of the Year is the school-record holder for career hits ... Alexis Souhlaris (Derry, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) concluded the 2009 season as the team leader in batting with .397 average.
UMBC (34-19, 12-8 America East) earned a spot in the America East Championships for the fourth year in a row and, as the fourth seed, will open with No. 1 Stony Brook... The Retrievers’ 34 victories this season are the most since winning 46 in 2006... UMBC’s doubleheader against Delaware on Wednesday was rained out... The Retrievers swept a doubleheader from America East rival Hartford with a pair of shutouts on Saturday... UMBC won the first game, 9-0, in five innings, then won the nightcap, 8-0, in six frames... Sunday’s series finale was rained out... UMBC pounded out 23 hits, including nine for extra bases, in the two games... The Retrievers also came through in the clutch all day, batting .636 with runners in scoring position and .652 with two outs... Sophomore hurler Stephanie Weigman (Elkridge, Md./Archbishop Spalding) struck out 19 and allowed just three hits in 11 innings... She picked up the victory in both games to improve to 22-14... Already the owner of UMBC’s single-season strikeout mark (284), Weigman also broke the school’s career record on Saturday and now has 425... Sophomore second baseman Lauren Brummell (Hanover, Va./Hanover) hit two doubles to give her a school-record 20 on the season... Six Retrievers are batting better than .290 on the season, including junior first baseman Amanda Fefel (Baltimore, Md./Catonsville), who leads UMBC with a .387 average, 10 homers and 44 RBI, while Brummell is batting .367 with a team-best 27 extra-base hits... Junior right fielder Emily Thompson (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Falls) batted a team-high .422 in America East Conference games.... Thompson is batting .500 (12-for-24) during her current eight-game hitting streak.
Stony Brook (35-12, 15-5 America East) won its first-ever America East regular season title and secured the top spot in the America East Championship with two wins over Albany... The Seawolves hit .304 as a team and hit seven home runs during the three-game series with the Great Danes... Senior Marissa Fleury led the team with a .625 batting average while senior Kelly Oberto slugged three homers and drove in eight runs... SBU set a new school record for wins in a season with its 34th win on Saturday... Junior Alyssa Struzenberg went both games against Albany, pitching a pair of complete games... She tossed a seven inning shutout on Saturday and then allowed only a pair of hits on Sunday... Stony Brook will face UMBC in the first round of the America East Championship on Thursday.
Vermont (8-38, 4-17 America East) went 1-2 last week in a three-game series against Maine at home, to wrap up the regular season ... The Catamounts took the second game of a doubleheader on Saturday, 8-4 ... In Vermont’s 8-4 victory freshman Kellin Haley (Oceanside, Calif./Vista Murrieta) went 2-for-4 with four runs batted in ... With the game tied, Haley gave the Cats the lead for good in the fourth with a triple with the bases loaded ... Freshman Tasha Manning (Ellsworth, Maine/Ellsworth) recorded her first two career hits in the win over Maine on Saturday ... Sunday’s game was “Senior Day” for Catamounts Jeanine Connolly (West Bridgewater, Mass./West Bridgewater) and Alison Daggett (Fort Collins, Colo./Fort Collins).