SOFTBALL CONCLUDES HOME SCHEDULE WITH STONY BROOK THIS WEEKEND; RETRIEVERS WILL CELEBRATE PARENTS AND ALUMNI DAY SATURDAY, SENIOR DAY SUNDAY
4/28/2006
Amy Sadowl is one of five seniors who will be honored before the final home game on Sunday. |
Baltimore, Md.-After two straight losses, the UMBC softball team looks to get back on track as it concludes its home schedule with a three-game series against America East rival Stony Brook this weekend. Saturday’s doubleheader will begin at 1 p.m., and the Retrievers will honor their parents before the first game and alumni before game two. Sunday’s single game will start at 12 p.m., with a pre-game ceremony to honor UMBC’s five seniors before their final home contest. The Retrievers are 41-14 on the season and 9-6 in conference action, sitting in third place in the league standings.
A Look Ahead
The Seawolves are 21-21 overall and in fifth place in the America East with a 6-6 conference record after defeating Hartford, 5-2, on Wednesday. Hayley Durham leads Stony Brook with a .321 batting average, 43 hits, 38 RBI and 11 home runs, while Suzanne Turek is tops on the team with 30 runs scored and a .401 on-base percentage. Angela Andrews is the Seawolves’ top pitcher with a 12-9 record, a 2.30 ERA and 75 strikeouts.
Senior Salute
The Retrievers will honor their five seniors prior to Sunday’s game, the home finale. Lauren Nicholson and Amy Sadowl have teamed up to anchor UMBC’s pitching staff over the last four years and rank one-two all-time in many pitching categories, including wins, innings pitched and games started. In addition, Nicholson is the all-time leader in complete games and appearances and ranks second in strikeouts, while Sadowl ranks fourth in complete games and fifth in strikeouts. A former junior college All-American who transferred to UMBC before the 2005 season, Jessica Griffith has been a constant in the lineup this season, posting a .336 batting average with six home runs, 12 doubles and 31 RBI. Another former junior college standout, second baseman Ashlea Underwood leads the team in walks for the second straight season. Jessica Keenan has battled injuries during her career which have severely limited her playing time, but she has served as a student coach in 2006.
Dawg Bites…
The Retrievers have reached the 40-win mark for the fifth time in school history and the first time since 2003. Three of the five 40-win seasons have come under head coach Joe French... The Retrievers have lost two in a row for only the third time in 2006 and the first since April 9-10 against Albany. They have not lost three straight all season… Junior first baseman Melanie Denischuk leads the NCAA in RBI (79) and ranks second in home runs (22), and she has shattered UMBC’s single-season records in both categories. Denischuk was recently chosen as one of 25 finalists for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award... Fourteen different Retrievers have combined to hit 79 home runs this season, a new UMBC record. The Retrievers have also broken team records for runs (414), extra-base hits (182), RBI (372), walks (203) and total bases (867)... The Retrievers are one of only four teams in the country with more than 70 homers, but UMBC is in its longest home run drought of the season, as the team has not hit a long ball in four games, the last coming in the second game of the Coppin State doubleheader on April 18... Sophomore catcher Stevie Shore and junior third baseman Reilly Ward have hit 14 and 12 home runs, respectively, the third and fifth highest season totals all-time at UMBC. Both players also rank in the top 10 in career home runs, with Ward’s 28 ranking second and Shore’s 19 ranking fifth.
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