ORONO, Maine -- The Black Bears carry their five-game win streak to Albany this weekend when the University of Maine softball team squares off against the Great Danes in a rematch of last season's America East title game. The series will open with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday before wrapping the weekend with a single game at noon on Sunday.
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Maine is 4-6 over the past two season's against Albany, meeting the Great Danes a total of five times in the America East postseason. UAlbany and Maine have gone head-to-head in each of the last two America East Championship games, with the Black Bears earning the title thanks to a 14-1 victory in 2016. Maine's last win on the road in the series came on April 23, 2016, a 3-1 victory in Albany.
SCOUTING THE BLACK BEARS:
Maine enters the weekend riding a five-game win streak after beginning conference play with a three-game weekend sweep at Hartford. The Black Bears took game one by a final of 5-2 before outlasting the Hawks 2-0 in an eight-inning contest to sweep Saturday's twin bill. Maine wrapped up the sweep with a 6-2 victory on Sunday.
Annie Kennedy picked up two wins in the circle, allowing just three earned runs and striking out nine over 11.0 innings of work.
Erika Leonard paced the offense, going 5-for-12 with four runs, one RBI and a double.
Rachel Carlson added four hits, including a triple, while knocking in a pair of runs and scoring three of her own. This season, the Black Bears are hitting .237 as a team and rank second in the league, only to Albany, with a 3.58 team ERA.
Offense: Rachel Carlson continues to pace Maine's hitting attack, boasting a .348 average which is good for fifth-best among America East leader. Carlson's 31 hits and 14 runs are both tops in the America East while she is adding nine RBI, a league-high three triples and three stolen bases over a league-leading 89 at-bats. Carlson has recorded a team-best nine multi-hit games, including five, three-hit performances.
Maddie Decker, who has driven in a run in four of her last five outings, leads the Black Bears with five, multi-RBI performances to go along with her .290 mark at the dish. Decker's leads the America East with 18 RBIs and is tied for Maine's team lead with three home runs.
Laurine German checks in with a .286 average with 12 runs and six RBIs. Earlier in the season, German posted Maine's season-long hit streak when she hit safely in 10-straight games.
Erika Leonard enters play riding a four-game hit streak after a hot start to conference play at the plate. Leonard, who has reached base safely in each of her last six outings, is hitting .256 with seven RBI. Her 14 runs are tied atop the America East leaderboard with Carlson.
Pitching: Senior
Annie Kennedy has been impressive thus far in the circle for the Black Bears. Kennedy's 1.65 ERA is tops in the America East. Kennedy's control has been her strong suit as she enters the weekend with a streak of 31 consecutive innings without issuing a walk. Kennedy's 0.55 walk issued per seven innings rate is second best in the nation while her 10.0 strikeout to walk ratio is fifth among the nation's leaders. Kennedy is undefeated over her last five starts with an overall mark of 6-3 to go along with 50 strikeouts in 63.2 innings. Kennedy has picked up the win in each of her last five outings.
Molly Flowers is 1-0 in league play after scoring a victory in an extra inning affair against Hartford. The senior has struck out 34 hitters in 33.0 innings. Freshman
Lilly Volk is 1-1 on the year with a 3.34 ERA in 29.1 innings while fellow freshman
Kyleigh O'Donnell has two wins with 31 strikeouts over 42.0 innings of work.
SCOUTING THE GREAT DANES: (14-8, 2-1 America East)
UAlbany enters play riding a two-game win streak after capturing the last two games of its series at Stony Brook, picking up wins of 5-3 and 5-2. The Great Danes, who have won 11 of their last 12, currently boast the lowest team ERA in the conference (2.75). Celeste Verdolivo has set the tone in the circle for the Great Danes, entering play at 6-1 with a 1.80 ERA and 37 strikeouts over 54.1 innings. Offensively, Kelly Spear leads all UAlbany hitters with a .333 mark at the plate. Spear leads the Great Danes with 20 total hits. Sarah Petzold is adding a .316 average with team-highs in runs (14) and RBIs (15) to go along with a pair of home runs. The Great Danes are 2-0 at home this season.
NOTEWORTHY:
- Rachel Carlson leads the America East in four offensive categories including hits (31), runs (14), at-bats (89) and triples (3).
- Maddie Decker enters the weekend as the league's leader in walks (13) and RBIs (18).
- Erika Leonard begins the weekend with a four-game hit streak and has reached base safely in six-straight contests.
- Maddie Decker has five, multi-RBI games, including a pair of three RBI performances.
- Carlson has posted nine games of two or more hits, including five three hit outings.
- Kristen Niland has reached base in five-straight contests.
- Carlson is hitting .404 (19-47) with runners on while German (.316) and Decker (.302) are both hitting over .300 in the category.
- Carlson is also hitting an impressive .407 (11-27) with runners in scoring position.
- With a runner on third and less than two outs, Carlson has knocked in seven runs in eight opportunities, a .875 percentage.
- German and Leonard lead the team with six, two-out hits each.
- Leonard also leads the team with four, two-out RBIs.
-UMaine-
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