CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Boston University and Stony Brook each swept its first conference series of the season over the weekend and players from the two teams comprise this week's America East softball award winners. The Seawolves' Lauren Maloney batted a scorching .625 over the weekend to earned Player of the Week accolades while teammate Shayla Giosia drove in a league-high eight runs and belted three home runs to earn Rookie of the Week honors. The Terriers' Erin Shuppert went 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA to earn Pitcher of the Week recognition. The awards for the first weekend of conference play were announced Monday afternoon.
Maloney (Las Vegas, Nevada) went 10-for-16 at the dish last week to lead SBU to a 5-0 week. Five of her hits went for extra bases, including three home runs, as she racked up 22 total bases during the week. The senior middle infielder, who earned second-team all-conference honors last season, scored eight runs last week to pace the conference. Maloney ranks ninth in hitting (.348) and has 11 extra-bast hits, which is tied for second in the conference.
Schuppert (Atlantic Beach, Fla.) recorded two of the Terriers' five wins last week. She allowed just three runs on five hits in 14 innings of work and help opposing lineups to a miniscule .111 batting average. The junior right-hander, who earned second-team all-league honors last year, earned the win in Boston U.'s 13-3 victory over Bryant Wednesday, then fired a two-hit shutout in Sunday's 3-0 win over Binghamton in which she struck out nine and walked only one.
Giosia (Runnemede, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) slugged a robust 1.000 last week as she batted .333, going 5-for-15 with four of those hits going for extra bases, including three home runs. The freshman, who also earned top rookie honors on March 12, gave her team a 2-0 win over Wednesday whit her two-run homer in the sixth inning. She also homered twice in Sunday's 10-0 win over Hartford. Giosia, who also crossed the plate four times, leads the league with 20 RBI and ranks in the top five in hitting (.366).
Boston U., which has won eight in a row, and Stony Brook, which has won seven straight and 16 of 19, are each off to 3-0 America East starts after sweeps of Binghamton and Hartford, respectively, last weekend. Albany took 2-of-3 at UMBC by sweeping the first two games of the series. The Retrievers took game three earlier today.
Conference play continues on Saturday with three more series. Maine, which had the bye this week, opens its league season at Albany, while Binghamton hosts Hartford and Boston U. entertains Stony Brook.
Team Notes
Albany (13-7, 2-1 AE) took two of three games against conference foe UMBC this past week ... Brittany MacFawn (Orlando, Fla./Timber Creek) went 1-1 this past week which was highlighted by an eight-inning complete game performance with 10 strikeouts ... Brittany Schwieger (Orangevale, Calif./Sacramento City College) went 1-0 this past week, throwing a seven-inning one-run game ... Schwieger lowered her ERA from 3.05 to 2.78 and punched out a season-high nine batters ... Katie Wambold (Hatboro, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) and Lauren Alcorn (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) each had two home runs apeice against UMBC ... Vicky McFarland (Staten Island,N.Y./Tottenville ) had a successful week on the basepaths, stealing a perfect 6-for-6 bases in three games against UMBC ... McFarland currently holds a modest four-game hitting streak to date ... UAlbany continues the 2012 schedule on Thursday, March 29 against crosstown rival Siena at Albany Field.
Binghamton (7-14, 0-3 AE) junior outfielder Jessica Phillips (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) hit her 34th career home run on Saturday against Boston University. She is now tied for first place all time in Binghamton program history with Deannie Plemon (2008-11). Phillips is currently in second place all time with 85 RBI, trailing only Plemon, who finished her career with 122 RBI. Against Boston University this past weekend, Phillips hit .300, going 3-for-10 with a home run three RBI ... She is also batting .300 against the Terriers was sophomore shortstop Jessica Bump (Windsor, N.Y./Windsor), who went 3-for-10 and scored a pair of runs. She also finished the series with two stolen bases ... senior third baseman Chelsea Horne (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville) started two of the three games against Boston this weekend and hit .600 (3-for-5) with a pair of doubles.
Boston U. (19-8, 3-0 AE) extended its winning streak to eight straight games ... In 13-3 win over Bryant, Terriers set a new school record of 19 hits, besting the previous mark of 17 hits which was set in 1993 ... seven players had at least two hits against Bulldogs with Chelsea O'Connor and Mandy Fernandez hitting home runs...Sophomore Holli Floetker pitched her third shutout and ninth complete game against Boston College for 1-0 victory...In doubleheader on Saturday against Binghamton, Terriers used three runs in the bottom of the seventh to erase a 3-1 deficit and earn the victorywiht homers by Amy Ekart and Brittany Clendenny...In second game of the doubleheader, Binghamton tied the game at 4-4 in the top of the seventh but Boston U. scored the winning run in the bottom of the inning to secure the win...Erin Schuppert then pitched a complete-game shutout against the Bearcats on Sunday, allowing just two hits while striking out nine as the Terriers won, 3-0
Hartford (4-17, 0-3 AE) suffered eight-straight losses last week, dropping its last five games in Florida before losing three games at Stony Brook in the opening weekend of America East Conference play ... Hartford was outhit by its opponents, 81-30, on the week and scored just seven runs compared to 57 by its opposition ... The Hawks look to snap their skid this week when they host the Marist Red Foxes in a doubleheader on Wednesday (2:30 p.m.) ... The twinbill marks Hartford's 2012 home opener ... Hartford then continues league play with a weekend series at Binghamton ... The Hawks and Bearcats will play two games on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. and will conclude the series on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.
Maine (6-19, 0-0 AE) was idle over the last week. The Black Bears kickoff conference play this weekend with a three-game series against the defending America East Tournament Champions in Albany this weekend beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 PM in Albany ... Jennifer Eberhardt (Glendale, Ariz.) was Maine's top hitter last season in conference play as the senior shortstop hit .345 in America East action, going 19-for-55 with 10 RBIs, three home runs and 22 runs scored ... Beth Spoehr (Appleton, Wis.) went 5-5 in conference play last season. Spoehr finished league play with a 2.80 ERA as she struck out 40 while allowing 34 runs in 70 innings with five complete games ... The Black Bears are 3-2 in their last five conference openers including last season's 4-1 win over UMBC.
After beating George Mason midweek, UMBC (12-14, 1-2 AE) took one of three games from Albany in the conference opening series for both teams… Senior Katie Ferguson (North East, Md./North East/Cecil CC) led the way for the Retrievers both at the plate and in the circle… The right-hander went 1-1, picking up a win in the series finale against Albany on Monday… She pitched a seven inning-complete game, giving up only two earned runs on five hits… At the plate, Ferguson led the Retrievers with a .429 average (6-for-14) and drove in two runs… Freshman Taylor Hall (Cosby, Va./Cosby) was impressive over the weekend as well, going 4-for-12 (.333) while hitting two homeruns and driving in five runs… Her double in the top of the eighth against George Mason broke a 2-2 tie and propelled UMBC to a 4-2 win… The Retrievers return to the field on Tuesday to start a busy week with a non-conference game against George Washington… UMBC then plays Howard on Thursday before hosting four games with St. Peter’s over the weekend.
Stony Brook (17-6, 3-0 AE) posted a perfect 5-0 record last week, including three shutouts ... the Seawolves swept Fairfield on Wednesday by scores of 6-5 and 2-0, before sweeping conference foe Hartford 4-0, 3-1 and 10-0 over the weekend...senior Lauren Maloney (Las Vegas, Nev./Spring Valley) hit .625 in five games with three HR and four RBI...on Wednesday against Fairfield, Maloney fell a single shy of the cycle in Stony Brook's 6-5 win in game one...freshman Shayla Giosia (Runnemede, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) also hit three HR this week, including two against Hartford on Sunday...Giosia had four RBI against the Hawks on Sunday and a team-leading eight RBI for the week...pitchers Allison Cukrov (Irvine, Calif./Irvine) and Taylor Chain (Gloucester, N.J./Gloucester) allowed only five earned runs in five games last week and combined to strike out 23 batters, while walking only four...Cukrov picked up three of the five wins and also earned a save on Saturday vs. Hartford...as a team, Stony Brook hit .365 last week and averaged five runs per game...Nine of Stony Brook's 14 HR this year came last week (three by Maloney and Giosia, two by sophomore Jessica Combs and one by freshman Lauren Kamachi)...Stony Brook hit 14 HR all of last season and has already equaled that total through 23 games in 2012...no Seawolf had more than three HR last year; Giosia already has five in her freshman season...Stony Brook will take on Iona for a doubleheader on Wednesday in New Rochelle, N.Y., before traveling to Boston to face the Terriers for a three-game series this weekend.