ORONO, Maine -- The University of Maine softball team begins its America East Championship run on Wednesday, May 9 when it takes on No. 5 Binghamton at the Bearcats Softball Complex at 11 a.m.
 

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LIVE STATS

AMERICA EAST CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL

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Final America East Standings

Team	Conf. Record	Win Pct.	Overall Record
1. UAlbany	13-4	.765	28-13
2. UMass Lowell	12-5	.706	19-26
3. Stony Brook	10-7	.588	23-20
4. Maine	9-7	.563	19-24
5. Binghamton	9-9	.500	16-23
6. UMBC	7-10	.412	12-29
7. Hartford	0-18	.000	9-31

POSTSEASON NOTES:
The Black Bears have appeared in the America East title game in each of the past two seasons, winning the league championship in 2016 and advancing to the Athens Regional. Maine has captured a total of three America East Titles, winning the crown in 1994, 2004 and 2016.

A year ago, the Black Bears entered as the No. 2 seed and defeated No. 6 Hartford, 9-1, in their opening game. After an 8-2 loss to No. 4 UAlbany, the Black Bears defeated No. 1 Binghamton, 2-1, to earn a spot in the title game. With the double elimination format, the Black Bears were tasked with defeating UAlbany twice in order to win the title. Maine took game one, 2-0, but fell in the deciding game, 6-1.

Alyssa Derrick (.500), Erika Leonard (.438) and Rachel Carlson (.416) enter tournament play as Maine's top hitters in postseason action. Derrick, who earned a spot on last year's All-Tournament Team, is 12-24 (.500) in America East Championship play while adding 10 RBI, two runs, two home runs and three doubles. Leonard (14-32 - .438) has scored six runs in postseason league play while driving in eight with two doubles, a triple and one home run. Carlson, who also earned a spot on last year's All-Tournament squad, is hitting .416 in the tournament (15-32) with three runs and two RBI with a pair of doubles.

A LOOK AT THE BLACK BEARS:
Maine enters tournament played at 20-23 overall and 9-7 in America East action. The Black Bears are coming off a weekend series which saw them go 1-2 at Stony Brook, winning game two by a 4-1 final.

Rachel Carlson has been solid at the plate all season as she enter postseason play fourth in the conference with a .329 average. Carlson's 48 total hits are tied for third best among league leaders while she ranks seventh in runs (24), tied for the lead in triples (4). Carlson leads the Black Bears with 14 multi-hit games, including seven three-hit showings, and ranks fourth in the league with a .383 on-base percentage. Her six stolen bases are also a team-high. Laurine German, who has reached base safely in 15 straight games, is hitting .282 overall. In league play, German is batting .304 with a team-best 11 conference RBIs. Overall, German checks in third on the team in runs (20) and third in RBIs (13) to go along with a team-tying best seven doubles. German's 35 hits rank second on the team. Erika Leonard leads the Black Bears with a .333 mark in conference play. Leonard, who has reached base safely in five consecutive games, has blasted 17 hits against league opponents to go along with 11 runs in 16 games. Overall, Leonard is third on the team at .275 and ranks second on the team with 22 runs, seventh in the America East, to go along with a 12 RBIs. Her 18 walks are tied for the team lead and tied for fifth among league leaders. Leonard has tallied 10 multi-hit games this season. Maddie Decker and Alyssa Derrick are tied for the team lead with six multi-RBI games. Decker is hitting .262 and ranks second on the team in RBIs (24) and home runs (4). Alyssa Derrick leads the Black Bears in home runs (5) and RBIs (29), good for eighth and third among league leaders, respectively.

In the circle, the Black Bears rank second in the league with a 3.06 staff ERA. Annie Kennedy enters tournament action with the league's lowest ERA (1.54). Kennedy is fourth among league leaders in total strikeouts (90) while her 31 batters struck out looking is a league-high. The senior and two-time America East Pitcher of the Week is 9-7 in 30 appearances. Most impressive has been Kennedy's control as she has walked just 14 hitters in 122.2 innings. Kennedy's 0.80 walks allowed per seven innings is fifth best in the nation while her 6.43 strikeout-to-walk ratio is 15th best nationally. Freshman Kyleigh O'Donnell, a two-time America East Rookie of the Week, has tallied six wins in 25 appearances. O'Donnell featured a 3.45 ERA with a pair of complete game shutouts. O'Donnell has fanned 73 hitters in 85.1 innings. Senior Molly Flowers has three wins and has struck out 44 in 43 innings of work. Flowers leads the league with 7.2 strikeouts per seven innings.

BLACK BEARS BITS:

• Head coach Mike Coutts is 67-49 over his first three years at the helm, including a 31-18 mark against America East opponents. Coutts has guided the Black Bears to the America East title game in each of his first two tournament appearances, including a championship in his first year as head coach (2016).
• Annie Kennedy, two-time America East Pitcher of the Week, ranks fifth in the nation with 0.80 walks allowed per seven innings and checks in 15th nationally with a 6.43 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
• Kennedy's 1.54 ERA is lowest among America East pitchers.
• Rachel Carlson ranks in the top 10 among America East leaders in average (4th - .329), hits (3rd-48), triples (1st-4) and runs (7th-24).
• Carlson has tallied 14 multi-hit games, including seven three-hit performances.
• Laurine German enters tournament play with a streak of 15 straight games in which she has reached base safely. Over that stretch, German is hitting .325 with eight runs and seven RBIs.
• Alyssa Derrick ranks third among league leaders in RBIs (29) and eighth in home runs (5).
• Erika Leonard is hitting .333 against conference opponents (17-for-51) with 11 runs in 16 games.
• Carlson is hitting .368 on the road (16 games).
• The Black Bears are 4-3 in extra inning games this season.
• Maine is 13-3 when leading after five innings and 14-0 when leading after six.
• The Black Bears are 10-3 when scoring 3-5 runs and 16-9 when scoring first.
• Maddie Decker (.313), Laurine German (.310) and Rachel Carlson (.300) are all hitting above .300 with runners in scoring position.
• Erika Leonard leads the team with a .379 mark when hitting with two outs.
• Derrick and Leonard lead the team with seven, two-out RBI.
• Carlson is batting .333 with runners on.
• Opponents are hitting .223 with runners on against Kennedy and .205 against O'Donnell.
• Flowers leads the America East with 7.16 strikeouts per seven innings.
   

BLACK BEARS VS. THE FIELD:
vs. Binghamton (1-2)
German: .286 (2-7), 2 runs, 2 RBI, 1 2B
Royle: .250 (2-8)
Leonard: .250 (2-8), 3 runs, 4 walks
Kennedy: 0-2, 0.93 ERA, 2 complete games, 2 starts, 7 runs/2 earned, 15.0 innings, 11 strikeouts

vs. UAlbany (1-1)
Decker: .500 (4-8), 2 runs, 1 RBI
Leonard: .429 (3-7), 1 run
Niland: .400 (2-5), 1 run, 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI
Kennedy: 0-0, 1.75 ERA, 1 start, 1 save, 2 runs, 6 strikeouts, 8.0 innings

vs. UMass Lowell (1-2)
German: .375 (3-8), 2 runs, 1 2B, 1 RBI
Decker: .250 (2-8), 1 run, 1 HR, 3 RBI
Derrick: .222 (2-9), 2 RBI
Kennedy: 0-1, 1.75 ERA, 2 starts, 3 runs, 12.0 innings, 3 strikeouts
O'Donnell: 1-1, 2.33 ERA, 1 start, 3 runs, 14 strikeouts, 9.0 innings

vs. Stony Brook (1-2)
Leonard: .444 (4-9), 1 run, 1 triple, 2 RBI
German: .333 (3-9), 1 run, 3 RBI
Niland: .286 (2-7), 1 run
O'Donnell: 1-0, 0.78 ERA, 1 start, 1 complete game, 5 runs/1 earned, 8 strikeouts, 9.0 innings

vs. UMBC (2-0)
German: .600 (3-5), 2 runs, 1 RBI
Niland: .600 (3-5), 1 run, 1 2B
Carlson: .600 (3-5), 2 runs, 1 triple, 2 RBI
Kennedy: 2-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 start, 1 run/0 earned, 7 strikeouts, 8.1 innings
O'Donnell: 0-0, 1 start, 2 runs/0 earned, 6 strikeouts, 4.2 innings

-UMaine-