The field for next weekend's America East Softball Championship is set and reigning champion Boston University will try to become the first top-seeded team to take home the title since 2005. University of Maine, Stony Brook University and University at Albany earned the other bids to the tournament, which will take place Thursday, May 13 through Saturday, May 15 at Maine's Kessock Field.
The Terriers (31-19, 14-3 America East), who captured their first regular-season title since 2007, swept a pair of games from Hartford this weekend by scores of 8-0 and 18-2. Senior Cassidi Hardy, the Most Outstanding Player at last year's tournament, hurled her first career perfect game and improved to 17-7 on the season.
Maine (22-26, 11-7) will be making its first tournament appearance since 2006 when it also hosted the championship. The Black Bears, who have dropped four of their last six games after winning 11 of its previous 12, took one of three games from Stony Brook over the weekend to lock up the No. 2 seed.
Stony Brook (29-19-1, 10-7), the 2008 champion, took two of three against Maine to secure the No. 3 seed and setup a rematch with the Black Bears on Thursday in Orono. Brijette Martin broke a 1-1 tie with her first career home run in the sixth inning to give SBU a 3-1 win Sunday.
Albany (20-21, 9-8), which captured three straight league titles from 2005-07, won its weekend series at UMBC to earn a conference tournament berth for the ninth time in its nine years as a league member. Michelle Connors went 5-for-10 with seven RBI in the three-game set.
Boston U. will face Albany in the first game of the tournament at 1 p.m. on Thursday, while Maine and Stony Brook will face off at 4 p.m. 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.
2010 America East Softball Championship
At University of Maine
Thursday, May 13
Game 1: No. 1 Boston U. vs. No. 4 Albany, 1 p.m.
Game 2: No. 2 Maine vs. No. 3 Stony Brook, 3:30 p.m.
Friday, May 14
Game 3: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner, 11 a.m.
Game 4: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser, 1:30 p.m. (elimination game)
Game 5: Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Winner, 4 p.m. (elimination game)
Saturday, May 15
Game 6: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner, 12 p.m. (championship game)
Game 7: Game 6 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser, 2:30 p.m. (if necessary)