With spring break trips in the books and the weather slowly getting warmer in the northeast, conference play is set to begin for six America East softball squads this weekend. The top four teams at the end of the seven-week round robin schedule will qualify for the 2011 America East Softball Championship, which the top seed will host, May 12-14.
Hartford, UMBC and Stony Brook all be host three-game series this weekend with the Hawks facing Binghamton, the Retrievers hosting Maine and the Seawolves taking on Boston University. All three sets will feature doubleheaders starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday and single games Sunday.
UMBC (14-9) enters America East play having won nine straight games and currently holds the best record in the league. The Retrievers lead the conference in several offensive categories, including team batting average (.309) and runs per game (5.69 rpg). Maine (8-19), which has dropped eight of its last nine games, features one of the league's top hitters in Terren Hall. The senior third baseman, who earned first-team all-league honors last season, paces the conference in both home runs (6) and RBIs (21). The Black Bears took last year's series, winning two of the three contests.
Hartford (3-11) is looking to qualify for the conference tournament for the first time since 2007 and begins that quest at home against the Bearcats, who are in search of its first-ever America East Championship berth. Binghamton (7-7), which won a Division I school-record 24 games last year, leads the league with a 1.95 team earned run average and is holding opponents to just 2.93 runs per game. Binghamton swept last year's series and outscored the Hawks, 31-10, over the three games.
In a rematch of last year's league championship game, Stony Brook (8-9) welcomes Boston U. (12-8) to Long Island. The Seawolves have won five of their last six games and have a league-best .962 fielding percentage (18 errors in 17 games). The Terriers are also hot, having won nine of their last 13. The Terriers are second in both run scored (4.45 rpg) and runs allowed (3.05 rapg). Boston U. swept last year's three-game set and outscored the Seawolves, 15-1, in the series.
Albany (3-12), which opens up conference play next weekend at home against Hartford, will play at Delaware State's tournament this weekend.