Vestal, N.Y. -- The University of Maine softball team returns to the site of its 2016 America East Championship victory and will take on No. 6 Hartford in the opening round of the 2017 America East Championships on Thursday, May 11 at 1:30 p.m. Maine will be going for its fourth conference title and look to become the first team to win back-to-back conference championships since Boston University did so in 2009-2010.
FULL GAME NOTES/PREVIEW
2016 AE Championships:
In last year's America East Championships, Maine entered as the No. 2 seed and cruised through, winning three in a row to take home its third league title. In game one, Maine used a five run bottom of the fourth to help lead it to a 7-4 victory over Albany.
Erin Bogdanovich threw a complete game shutout in game two as Maine put across three runs in the first and held on to a 3-0 victory over Binghamton. Maine's offense exploded in the championship as it notched a record-setting 18 hits on the way to a 14-1, 5-inning drubbing of Albany.
A Look at Maine:
Since putting together a 7-game win streak, Maine has lost five-straight entering tournament action after dropping a regular season doubleheader finale to Albany last weekend. Maine fell in game one to the Great Danes, 2-0, before coming up short in a comeback, 6-5. First team all-conference selection
Rachel Carlson leads the way, ranking sixth in the league at .355 and pacing Maine in runs (23), total hits (44) and stolen bases (12). Carlson posted 12 multi-hit games and was equally impressive in league action where she hit .382, belting 21 hits with 13 runs and four steals in 16 games. Meg Royle, a second team all-conference selection, hit .286 with 32 hits, 16 RBI and 10 runs with six doubles, three triples and three home runs. In league play, Royle hit .326.
Alyssa Derrick, second team all-league, is Maine's power threat. Derrick, led the league in home runs with 13 and paced Maine with 31 RBIs. Derrick ranked fourth in America East with a .612 slugging percentage and hit .373 in league play.
Erika Leonard is adding a .239 mark and led Maine in runs (24) and doubles (7) to go along with 21 RBI out of the lead-off spot.
In the circle, Maine is led by second team all-conference selection
Erin Bogdanovich. Bogdanovich is 5-11 on the year with a 4.44 ERA in 27 appearances and 17 starts. The lefty struck out a team-high 71, 43 coming in league play, over 97.2 innings. Junior righty
Molly Flowers is 6-9 on the year with a 4.65 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 78.1 innings. Against league opponents, Flowers is 4-2 with a 2.12 ERA and 45 strikeouts.
A Look at Hartford:
The Hawks picked up their first win over a conference foe when they defeated No. 3 Stony Brook, 2-1, in Wednesday's meeting. Lexi Wilkerson leads the way for Hartford with a .264 mark and 21 RBIs with six home runs. Freshman Isabella Gerone is 1-12 in the circle with a 5.25 ERA and 23 strikeouts over 77.1 innings. Bianca Ross, who homered against Stony Brook on Wednesday, is 1-16 in the circle with a 6.28 ERA and 34 strikeouts over 100.1 innings of work.
The Series:
Maine enters play with an 11-game win streak over Hartford and is 53-22 all-time against the Hawks. Most recently, Maine swept a series at Hartford with wins of 7-6, 6-2 and 8-4. In the most recent series,
Rachel Carlson and
Alyssa Derrick each posted a .500 average. Carlson went 6-for-12 with 3 RBI and was a perfect 3-for-3 in stolen bases while Derrick was 4-for-8 with five RBI, two runs and a home run.
Molly Flowers picked up a win in the circle and tossed 9.1 innings, giving up three runs, two earned, while striking out 12.
-UMaine-
