BALTIMORE, Md. – The UMBC bats came alive early while the pitching and defense took care of the rest in the final innings as the Retrievers held off UAlbany 9-3 for the program’s fourth consecutive America East Title on Saturday afternoon.
UMBC is just the second program in conference history to win four consecutive #AESB Championships, joining Hofstra, which won four straight from 1998-2001. The Retrievers have earned the America East’s automatic bid to the 2023 NCAA Softball Championship and will learn its draw during the NCAA Selection Show, which takes place Sunday night at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN2.
Senior Madison Wilson was selected as the Championship’s Most Outstanding Player for her work at the plate over her team’s three wins. Wilson totaled four hits, including a solo home run on Friday to lift UMBC to a 1-0 victory. She reached base safely in seven of ten at bats to go with four RBI.
The offense wasted no time in scoring, jumping on UAlbany with four runs in the first. Lyndsey Evix opened it with an RBI double while singles by Courtney Coppersmith and Karly Keating stretched the lead to 4-0.
In the third, inning Keating singled down the left field line and both runners on base came around to score for a 6-0 advantage. Shanel Scott followed two batters later with a towering three-run homer for a 9-0 UMBC lead.
UAlbany got one run back in the fourth and Morgan Petty cut the deficit to 9-2 in the fifth with a solo shot over the fence.
The Great Danes loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and drew a walk to pull within six, 9-3. Coppersmith didn’t let them get any closer and got a swinging strikeout to lead her team to victory.
Along with Wilson, Scott, Kya Matter and Macy Granzow were named to the All-Championship Team for UMBC. Wendi Hammond, Maddi Petrella and Petty were selected from UAlbany.
Coppersmith earned the win for her 12th career #AESB Championship victory. She went 7.0 innings while allowing seven hits and striking out 11 batters. Kate Powers took the loss as she lasted 2.2 innings and gave up eight earned runs.
The 2023 Elite 18 Award winner was Caroline Srokowski of UAlbany, a biology major with a 4.00 GPA.
About America East: The America East provides its member schools and their athletic programs a platform upon which student-athletes can achieve both collegiate and life success through the promotion and nurturing of athletic excellence, academic achievement and leadership, on and off the field.
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