CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- A trio of softball standouts who led their teams to strong weeks have earned America East weekly awards for the period ending March 13. Binghamton's Jessica Phillips (Syracuse, N.Y./Cicero-North) was named Player of the Week while a pair of Stony Brook Seawolves, Colleen Matthes (Severn, Md./Institute of Notre Dame) and Elise Fortier (Coventry, R.I./Coventry), earned Pitcher and Rookie of the Week honors, respectively. The winners were announced Monday afternoon.
Phillips, a sophomore outfielder, went 6-for-15 (.400) in leading Binghamton to a 4-1 record at the George Mason tournament last week. She also drew four walks, which gave her an on-base percentage of .526 scored three runs, ripped three doubles and had eight RBI. Through nine games this season, Phillips, a first-team All-America East selection last year as well as the conference's Rookie of the Year, is hitting a team-best .462 with three home runs and 12 RBI. The Bearcats' 6-3 start is their best in 10 years at the Division I level.
Matthes, a senior hurler, posted a 2-0 record over the weekend while compiling a 1.31 earned run average. She allowed just three earned runs on nine hits in 16 innings of work. Matthes earned the win in Stony Brook's 4-3 victory over N.C. State on Saturday, allowing just five hits and striking out seven in a complete game effort. She followed up the next day by holding James Madison to two runs on four hits in a 4-2 win over James Madison. Matthes, who also fired two scoreless innings of relief against Fairfield last week, held opponents to a .161 against Matthes and just three extra-base hits.
Fortier, a freshman third baseman, hit .417 (5-for-12) in four games last week. She led the Seawolves with three double and drove in and score scored a pair of runs. Fortier also racked up a .667 slugging percentage, a .462 on-base percentage and played flawless defense on the hot corner.
Team Notes
Albany (1-9) lost all five games at the Santa Clara Bronco Classic over the weekend... The Great Danes dropped a 4-3 decision in the opener against the host Broncos before falling to UC Davis, 2-0, and San Jose State, 3-2, on Saturday... UAlbany wrapped up the weekend with 6-3 and 8-1 losses to Boise State on Sunday... Gina Mason (Sacramento, Calif./El Camino) hit .500 for the Great Danes over the weekend, recording seven hits, including a double, and scoring two runs... Jess Bergin (New Windsor, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) hit .286 with four hits and one RBI, while also stealing two bases... Brittany Schweiger (Orangevale, Calif./Bella Vista) led the Great Danes in the circle with a 1.40 ERA in two appearances... Schweiger tossed one complete game, striking out 11 and allowing just two earned runs in 10 innings of work... The Great Danes will return to action over the weekend, taking part in George Mason's Cherry Blossom Classic... UAlbany will take on host George Mason and Cornell on Friday, before facing Monmouth and Howard on Saturday... The Great Danes will wrap up the tournament with a second game against Monmouth on Sunday.
Binghamton (6-3) is off to its best start in its 10-year NCAA Division I era. The 2004 squad held the previous mark after nine games with a 5-3-1 mark ... sophomore outfielder Jessica Phillips (Syracuse, N.Y./Cicero-North) went 6-for-15 (.400) in leading Binghamton to a 4-1 record at the George Mason Tournament this past week. She also drew four walks, which gave her an on-base percentage of .526. In addition, she also scored three runs belted three doubles and had eight RBI. Through nine games this season, Phillips is hitting a team-best .462 with three home runs and 12 RBI ... freshman shortstop Jessica Bump (Windsor, N.Y./Windsor) hit .316 and score five runs at the George Mason Tournament. She had a pair of two-hit games and drove in a run. Through nine games this season, Bump has hit safely in six of them. She leads the team with seven runs scored ... senior catcher Deannie Plemon (Woodbridge, N.Y.) leads the Bearcats with nine RBI though nine games. She had four RBI and three doubles this past week ... sophomore pitcher Kate Price (Brewerton, N.Y./Central Square) picked up a win and two saves at the George Mason Tournament.
Boston University (6-5) went 3-2 last weekend at the USF Under Armour Showcase ... BU picked up wins over La Salle, 8-6, CCSU, 2-1, and Robert Morris, 2-0, but fell to LIU, 8-6, and Central Michigan, 2-1 ... Red-shirt freshman Jayme Mask (Grafton, Mass./Grafton Memorial) batted .375 with six hits and five stolen bases, while sophomore hurler Whitney Tuthill (Middletown, Conn./Suffield Academy) picked up two wins in the circle ... BU will remain in Florida for the next week as it will take on Colorado State in a doubleheader beginning at noon on Tuesday (March 15), and follow up with a single against Quinnipiac on Wednesday at 12 p.m. ... Over the weekend, they will play in five additional games at the USF The Game Tournament in Tampa, Fla. ... At that tourney, BU will face Kent State, FAMU, Texas Tech, Winthrop, and Jacksonville.
Hartford (0-4) dropped a doubleheader at Manhattan on Wednesday before falling to Yale and Rider on Sunday in day one of the Rebel Spring Games in Kissimmee, Fla. ... Shannon Simpkins (Millville, N.J./Sacred Heart), a junior outfieler, led the Hawks at the plate during opening week finishing 7-for-16 (.438) with seven hits ... In addition, she swiped three bases in four attempts ... At Manhattan, the Hawks fell 10-2 in game one before suffering a 9-1 loss in the nightcap, both in five innings ... Rookie first baseman Chelsey Mooney (Corona, Calif./Corona) collected a pair of hits in the opening game while senior Lauren Kamena (Nesconset, N.Y./Smithtown) launched the third home run of her career ... In a 7-6 loss against fellow Nutmeg State rival Yale, the Hawks led earlywith three first inning runs however the Bulldogs responded the following inning with five of their own ... Three Hawks collected multi-hit games with Kate Wacyk (Sellersville, Pa./Pennridge) finishing with two hits, one run scored and a pair of RBIs ... Hartford and Rider went 11 innings before an RBI single lifted rider to a 10-9 win ... Sophomore Nicole Springer (New Britian, Conn./Kingswood Oxford) went 3-for-5 at the plate as the designated player, driving in a game-best four RBI ... Hartford continues action in the Sunshine State with 10 more games.
Maine (8-19) finished out its Spring Break swing through the south and ending with four games at the NC State Wolfpack Challenge ... The Black Bears lone win of the week game against Fairfield which Maine defeated 7-6, a game in which Maine belted three home runs and scored six of its seven runs by way of the long ball ... Terren Hall (Bucksport, Maine) had two home runs on the week for Maine and now has 30 in her career, just one home run shy of tying the Black Bear all-time career home run record at 31 which was set from 1997-00 by Sara Jewett ... Beth Spoehr (Appleton, Wis.) picked up the win against Fairfield and now has three wins on the season, a new career high for the sophomore ... Hall, Kali Burnham (Courtice, Ontario) and Jennifer Eberhardt (Glendale, Ariz.) have each started all 27 games for Maine and have combined to drive-in 38 of Maine's 72 runs and have scored 42 of the Black Bears' total runs ... Maine returns to action with a doubleheader at Wagner on Sunday, March 20th with game one slated to start at noon.
UMBC (6-9) went 3-3 last week… The Retrievers blasted four home runs in a 13-4 six-inning rout of Delaware on Wednesday… Freshman shortstop Jessica Warner (Huntingtown, Md./Huntingtown) hit the first two round-trippers of her career, including a walk-off grand slam, and she drove in six… Junior Katie Ferguson (North East, Md./North East/Cecil CC) and senior second baseman Lauren Brummell (Hanover, Va./Hanover) also homered… Ferguson went 3-for-3 with three runs and two RBI against the Blue Hens… Senior Stephanie Weigman (Elkridge, Md./Archbishop Spalding) struck out a season-high seven in the complete game win… The Retrievers went 3-2 at the weekend’s Dawg Pound Invitational… Brummell hit for the cycle in UMBC’s 14-2 five-inning victory over Morgan State on Saturday… She collected the double and triple in the first inning, the homer in the third and the single in the fourth, going 4-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored in the game… Brummell and senior third baseman Julia Culotta (Street, Md./North Harford/Tennessee) went back-to-back in the third, and sophomore right fielder Ashley Scroggin (Stafford, Va./North Stafford) also homered in the game… The Retrievers scored eight runs in the first… The Retrievers then fell to Drexel, 11-3, in six innings… Junior catcher Becca Bernheimer (Lewes, Del./Cape Henlopen) had two doubles and all three RBI against the Dragons… Scroggin’s second home run of the day accounted for UMBC’s only run… The Retrievers fell to Canisius, 3-2, on Sunday… UMBC’s bats exploded for a five-run fifth in a 5-3 victory over Drexel… Ferguson earned the complete game victory, her first as a Retriever… The Retrievers host George Mason on Wednesday, then host the UMBC Spring Classic next weekend, where they will take on St. Francis (Pa.), Morgan State, Niagara and Brown.
Stony Brook (5-8) defeated ACC-foe North Carolina State (4-3), Charleston Southern (8-3) and James Madison (4-2) to finish the weekend with a 3-1 record at the NC State Wolfpack Challenge...senior Colleen Matthes (Severn, Md.) posted a 2-0 record over the weekend with 16 IP, 13 K and only 3 ER...the Seawolves slugged three HR against NC State as sophomore Taylor Chain (Gloucester, N.J.), freshman Jess Combs (Hammonton, N.J.) and junior Lauren Maloney (Las Vegas, Nev.) went deep...Combs and Maloney hit back-to-back shots in the top of the 7th to give Stony Brook a 4-3 lead against the Wolfpack...Stony Brook's top five hitters had multi-hit games against Charleston Southern on Saturday...sophomore Gina Bianculli (Oakdale, N.Y.) went 3-for-4 with a HR, a double, two RBI and two runs against Charleston Southern...Maloney went 2-for-4 with an RBI, two runs and three stolen bases against Charleston Southern...junior Suzanne Karath went 2-for-3 with a RBI, a run and a stolen base against JMU...the Seawolves will host the Stony Brook Invitational on March 19-20 with a pair of games against Holy Cross and Fairfield.