CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Boston University, the America East softball regular-season champion, has claimed three weekly honors, while University at Albany also took home an award.
The Terriers' Emily Roesch (Palm Beach, Fla./Palm Beach Gardens) shared Player of the Week accolades with the Great Danes' Michelle Connors (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa), while Cassidy Hardy (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter) and Whitney Tuthill (Middletown, Conn./Suffield Academy) took home Pitcher and Rookie of the Week honors for Boston U., respectively. The final awards of the 2010 regular season were announced Monday afternoon.
Roesch, a sophomore shortstop, had five hits in six at-bats (.833), including two for extra bases. The reigning America East Rookie of the Year, also scored four runs and drove in six in two games. She went 4-for-5 with a double and five RBI in the Terriers' 18-2 win over Hartford on Sunday.
Connors, a senior utility player, batted .500 (5-10) last week and played a key role in helping Albany clinch its ninth straight America East Championship berth. In her team's two wins last week, Connors went 4-for-7 with two doubles, a homer and seven RBI.
Hardy, a senior right-hander, hurled her first career perfect game and fifth no-hitter in an 8-0 five-inning win over Hartford. The Most Outstanding Player at the 2009 league tournament, Hardy struck out 11 and improved to 17-7 on the season.
Tuthill, a freshman designated player, had just two hits in four at-bats last week but made them both count. Tuthill tied a program record with two homers and drove in six runs in the Terriers' 18-2 win over Hartford Sunday. She also fired three perfect innings on the mound.
Team Notes
Albany (20-21, AE 9-8) qualified for the America East Conference Tournament for the ninth time in as many seasons by registering two victories in a three-game road weekend series against UMBC … The Great Danes, who will enter the tournament having won five of their last six games, split a twinbill on May 8 … After dropping a 1-0 decision in the opener, UAlbany recovered to post a 7-3 victory in the nightcap … The Great Danes grinded out a 5-4 win in the rubber match on May 9 … UAlbany was led by Michelle Connors (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa) in the three-game set … The senior went 5-for-10 with seven RBIs and had three extra-base hits … The senior has 35 career doubles and needs only four more to break the school record, which is currently held by Kelly Ogden … All three pitchers played a major role in the team’s success last weekend … Leah McIntosh (Whitby, Ontario/Sinclair) went the distance and was the winning pitcher in the 7-3 victory, as the Great Danes punched their ticket to the league tournament … The senior leads the staff with a 2.50 earned run average and 99 strikeouts … Freshman Allie Weiser (Wildwood Crest, N.J./Wildwood Catholic) went six innings to earn the victory in the rubber match before senior Marissa Powell (Midlothian, Texas/Midlothian) hurled the last inning to pick up the save … Powell also had a strong outing in the opener, allowing just one run and four hits over seven frames … Gina Mason (Sacramento, Calif./El Camino), who along with Connors is one of two players to start all 41 games during the regular season, leads the team in several offensive categories … She ranks first in batting average (.357), home runs (8), RBIs (30), hits (40), runs scored (24), slugging percentage (.634) and on-base percentage (.456) … Jessica Bergin (New Windsor, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) and Andrianna Walraven (Thompson Ridge, N.Y./Pine Bush) had breakthrough junior campaigns and are also a major reason why UAlbany ranks first in the league with 61 stolen bases on 75 attempts … Bergin, who leads the team with 17 thefts, ranks second on the squad behind Mason with a .301 batting average and a .524 slugging percentage … Almost half of her 31 hits have been for extra bases, including 10 doubles … Walraven, who has 16 stolen bases, is second on the team with 34 hits and third with a .286 batting average … UAlbany will be the fourth seed in the league’s postseason tournament for the first time since winning it all in 2007 and open up championship play against Boston University on Thursday, May 13 at 1 p.m. … The Great Danes have advanced to the championship round a conference-best five straight seasons.
Binghamton (24-19, AE 8-10) concluded its best ever season in its Division I tenure last week with two losses to a tough Cornell team … Binghamton’s 8-10 conference record landed the team in fifth place, a game and a half outside of the number four seed and their first postseason tournament berth … The 2010 Bearcats, under first-year head coach Michelle Burrell, set a new DI record for most wins in a season and had its first winning season …The Bearcats also set a number of team season records, including most runs, hits, doubles, home runs, RBI, batting average … All-Conference candidate junior catcher Deannie Plemon (Irvine, Calif./Woodbridge) set single season records for batting average (.374) and RBI (44) and freshman left fielder Jessica Phillips (Syracuse, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) is the new single-season record holder for most homers in a season (15) … Plemon also slugged .767 and hit 14 home runs and Phillips slugged .770, knocked in 33 runs and scored 38 times … As of May 2nd, Phillips ranked 11th in the nation in home runs per game … Sophomore pitcher Kristen Emerling (Germantown, Tenn./Houston) paced the pitching staff with a 14-5 record and a 1.95 ERA … Emerling’s 14 wins are a school record and was 5-0 with a 0.00 ERA in nine appearances and 23.1 innings in relief … Junior Stephanie DeLuca (Yonkers, N.Y./Ursuline) emerged as a power hitter, batting .306 with 28 RBI and senior Stephanie Valencia (Yuma, Ariz./Arizona Western CC) batted .324 with 33 runs scored … Valencia shined last week on senior day, batting .714 with a home run, two triples and five home runs in a doubleheader defeat to Colgate.
Boston University (31-19, AE 14-3) wrapped up its 2010 America East regular season with a two-game sweep of Hartford (8-0 (5); 18-2) over the weekend. The Terriers secured the AE regular season crown for the first time since 2007 and will enter the conference tournament as the No. 1 seed, which will be hosted at the University of Maine next weekend. Senior Cassidi Hardy (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter) pitched her first career perfect game and her fifth no-hitter overall, which is a new program career record, topping the four she previously held with Aubrey West ('96). It marks the program's seventh overall perfect game. She becomes the fourth-ever Terrier to pitch a perfect game and the first since 2010 BU Hall of Fame inductee Robyn King ('01) recorded one in 2000. Sophomore Emily Roesch (Palm Beach, Fla./Palm Beach Gardens) went 4-for-4 with five RBIs, and senior Rachel Moeller (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) hit 1-for-3 with four RBIs and a triple. Junior April Setterlund (Torrance, Calif./South Torrance) had one official at-bat but still tied a school record with four runs scored after drawing two walks and a hit-by-pitch. In the first round of the America East Softball Championships, the top-seeded Terriers will face No. 4 Albany on Thursday (May 13) at 1 p.m.
Hartford (16-24, AE 3-14) went 0-4 in the final week of the 2010 season … The Hawks dropped a pair of games at Marist (0-5, 4-8) on Tuesday before suffering a pair of five inning losses at Boston University (0-8, 2-18) this weekend … Senior Cassidi Hardy hurled a perfect game for Boston University, the first of her career, striking out 11 batters in 15-at bats in game one … In game two, the Boston University offense exploded for 18 runs on 15 hits en route to an 18-2 oust of the Hawks … Amanda Dilworth (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial) closed out the season hitting at a clip of .343 to lead Hartford at the plate … The junior also scored a team-best 22 runs and etched her name in Hartford’s record book ranking fifth with 34 career stolen bases … Nicole Springer (New Britain, Conn./Kingswood Oxford), a rookie, also entered Hartford’s record book with a team-high 14 doubles, tying teammate Rachel Clonick for the most in a single season … The Hawks lose four seniors – Clonick, Ann Kyzer Boxborough, Mass./Acton-Boxborough Reg.), Sara Messinger (New Egypt, N.J./New Egypt) and Olivia Piacentini (Rochester, N.Y./East Irondequoit Eastridge) – to graduation … Clonick closed out her career ranked third in the Hartford record book with 29 career doubles … Kyzer recorded a career fielding percentage of .996 and finished second in the all-time rankings.
Maine (22-26, AE 11-7) clinched their first America East Tournament appearance since 2006 and will host the America East tournament starting Thursday… The Black Bears dropped the series to Stony Brook over the weekend… Maine scored in the first inning in all three games, but only got one win on the weekend… Alexis Souhlaris led the team with a .400 batting average… Terren Hall hit two home runs and batted .375… Cayleigh Montano picked up Maine’s win in the circle and posted a 1.40 ERA… She allowed one earned run in five innings of work Saturday… Souhlaris leads the team with a .399 batting… Hall ranks second with a .382 average and leads the team with 13 home runs and 52 RBIs… Ashley Kelley leads the Black Bears in the circle with a 10-5 record… Souhlaris leads the team in ERA… She is 5-5 with a 2.30 ERA… Terren Hall was one of four America East players named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team… Hall was selected to the second team.
UMBC (25-24, AE 6-12) dropped its season-ending series to Albany… The Retrievers took the first game, 1-0… Junior hurler Stephanie Weigman (Elkridge, Md./Archbishop Spalding) struck out eight and did not allow a hit until the sixth… UMBC’s only run scored on a sacrifice fly by junior first baseman Malorie Weller (Round Hill, Va./Loudoun Valley/Kennesaw State)… It was UMBC’s fourth one-hit shutout this season… The Retrievers dropped the nightcap, 7-3… Senior third baseman Amanda Fefel (Baltimore, Md./Catonsville) hit two home runs to account for all of UMBC’s scoring… The Retrievers fell in the rubber match, 5-4, despite blasting three homers, as Weller, junior center fielder Julia Culotta (Street, Md./North Harford/Tennessee) and sophomore left fielder Kaela Mason (Bel Air, Md./Harford Tech) all went deep… Fefel finishes the season with 13 home runs, matching her career high and ranking as the fourth-most in a single season in UMBC history… She also increased her school-record career total to 43… She ends her career with 219 hits, 147 RBI, 77 extra-base hits, 107 runs, a .336 average and a .590 slugging percentage, ranking in UMBC’s all-time top 10 in each category… Senior right fielder Emily Thompson (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Falls) finished the season as UMBC’s leading hitter at .333 and also posted career highs with eight homers and 20 RBI… She also batted a team-best .397 with 11 extra-base hits against conference opponents… Thompson’s 17 career home runs rank 10th all-time at UMBC… She was named to the CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District II Second Team on Thursday… Weigman fanned 200 batters for the second year in a row… She is the only Retriever ever to strike out 200 in a season… Her 636 career strikeouts are a school record… UMBC misses the America East Championship for the first time since 2005.
Stony Brook (29-19-1, AE 10-6) secured the No. 3 seed in the America East Championship by taking two games from Maine this weekend… the Seawolves opened the week by sweeping a doubleheader with Seton Hall… freshman Shannon O’Shea went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two RBI against the Pirates… junior Colleen Matthes tossed a shutout in the second game… SBU won its first game with Maine in extra innings… senior Katelyn O’Donnell beat out a grounder to second with the bases loaded for the game-winning RBI single… senior Alyssa Struzenberg allowed just three hits in her complete game win… the Seawolves won in dramatic fashion again on Sunday as junior Brijette Martin hit her first career home run to break a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the sixth… Struzenberg retired the Black Bears in order in the top of the seventh to secure the win.