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News Release

Softball Travels to First-Place Maine for Three-Game Set This Weekend

4/23/2010


Emily Thompson is batting .357 with seven extra-base hits in America East games this season.

BALTIMORE—After a week off, the UMBC softball team (21-19, 2-7 AE) returns to action this weekend with a big three-game series at league-leading Maine (18-21, 7-2) in Orono. The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 12 p.m. and a single game on Sunday at 11 a.m.

 

Last Time Out: The Retrievers dropped a home series to Boston University last weekend. UMBC won the first game, 3-1, on a walk-off home run by senior catcher Amanda Page (Batavia, N.Y./Batavia/Monroe CC) but fell by scores of 11-3 and 5-0 in games two and three. Senior pitcher Amanda Fefel (Baltimore, Md./Catonsville), junior first baseman Malorie Weller (Round Hill, Va./Loudoun Valley/Kennesaw State) and sophomore pinch hitter Kaela Mason (Bel Air, Md./Harford Tech) also homered in the series, while Fefel tossed a gem in the opener.

 

On the Black Bears: Maine is 18-21 on the season and 7-2 in America East play after taking two of three games from league rival Albany last weekend. Second baseman Alexis Souhlaris (.405) and third baseman Terren Hall (.392) rank second and third, respectively, in the America East in batting average. Hall is also second in the league in RBI (39) and fourth in home runs (9). In all, four Black Bears are batting at least .340 for the second-best offense in the conference, batting .288 as a team. Souhlaris, the 2009 America East Co-Player of the Year, also leads Maine in the circle with a 1.98 ERA, while Ashley Kelley has posted a 9-3 record and a team-best 37 strikeouts.

 

Inside the Series: Maine leads the all-time series, 11-9, but UMBC has won eight of the last 11 meetings dating to 2006. Last season, the Retrievers won two of three games at home against the Black Bears, including a 5-0 complete game shutout in the series finale by junior Stephanie Weigman (Elkridge, Md./Archbishop Spalding), who is 2-1 with a 1.62 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 26.0 innings spanning five appearances against the Black Bears. Junior second baseman Lauren Brummell (Hanover, Va./Hanover) has enjoyed facing Maine pitching in the past, as she is batting .450 (9-for-20) with three extra-base hits and four RBI in six career games. In addition, senior right fielder Emily Thompson (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Falls) is batting .350 (7-for-20) with four doubles and a home run against the Black Bears.

 

Comeback Kids: UMBC has won six games when tied or trailing after six innings, including a 3-1 victory over Boston University last Saturday. With the scored tied, 1-1, in the bottom of the seventh inning, junior designated player Lauren O’Malley (Pasadena, Md./Archbishop Spalding) singled up the middle with one out to set the stage for Page, whose first home run of the season gave the Retrievers the win. UMBC posted four straight wins in their last at-bat from March 19-24, including a pair of seven-run rallies, and also defeated La Salle with a seventh-inning comeback on April 13.

 

Thompson Torching America East: Thompson leads the Retrievers with a .357 average and seven RBI against America East opponents. Seven of her 10 hits have gone for extra bases – including four home runs, third-most in the conference – and she ranks second in the league with a .929 slugging percentage. In the last two seasons, Thompson is batting .397 (29-for-73) and slugging .849 with seven doubles, eight home runs and 18 RBI against America East foes.

 

Bicentennial: Fefel became the eighth player in UMBC history to collect 200 career hits with a single in the first game against Longwood on April 10, and she now has 206 base knocks.

 

UMBC Career Hits

  1. Kristie Pickeral, 263, 2002-05
  2. Deanna Vecchio, 258, 1999-2002
  3. Lisa Boone, 249, 2000-03
  4. Dana Shepherd, 239, 2005-08
  5. Carrie Lycett, 237, 1994-97
  6. Amy Wolff, 227, 1994-97
  7. Kali Shirk, 213, 2005-08
  8. Amanda Fefel, 206, 2007-Present

 

Power Surge: Fefel tied UMBC’s single-game record with three home runs in the second game against Temple on March 24, equaling the mark set by Deanna Vecchio in 2002 and matched by Kristie Pickeral in 2004. Her game-tying home run in the series opener against Boston University last Saturday was the 39th of her career, leaving her one shy of Pickeral’s school record. In addition, Thompson ranks 10th all-time at UMBC with 16 career round-trippers.

 

UMBC Career Home Runs

  1. Kristie Pickeral, 40, 2002-05
  2. Amanda Fefel, 39, 2007-Present
  3. Melanie Denischuk, 30, 2006-07

Reilly Ward, 30, 2004-07

      5.   Dana Shepherd, 28, 2005-08

      6.   Taryn McDonald, 24, 1996-99

      7.   Amy Wolff, 21, 1994-97

      8.   Stevie Shore, 19, 2005-06

      9.   Ashley Gray, 18, 2007-08

      10. Crystal Ray, 16, 1998-2000

            Emily Thompson, 16, 2007-Present

 

Climbing the Charts: Fefel also ranks among UMBC’s all-time leaders in a number of other categories, including RBI (3rd, 140), slugging percentage (4th, .578), total bases (4th, 358), extra-base hits (5th, 71), walks (T-6th, 61), on-base percentage (9th, .393), runs (10th, 97), games started (10th, 197) and at-bats (10th, 619).

 

Weigman’s Whiffs: Weigman struck out the 600th batter of her career on Sunday against Boston University. UMBC’s all-time record holder, she has 180 more whiffs than any other Retriever pitcher. Fefel ranks fourth in UMBC history with 272 career strikeouts.

 

UMBC Career Strikeouts

  1. Stephanie Weigman, 602, 2008-Present
  2. Crystal Ray, 422, 1998-2000
  3. Lauren Nicholson, 387, 2003-06
  4. Amanda Fefel, 272, 2007-Present
  5. Ashley Gray, 229, 2007-08

 

Weigman’s Whiffs, Part 2: Weigman has struck out 168 batters this season, the fourth-highest single-season total in school history. She now has three of UMBC’s top five all-time marks.

 

UMBC Single-Season Strikeouts

  1. Stephanie Weigman, 293, 2009
  2. Crystal Ray, 172, 2000
  3. Crystal Ray, 169, 1999
  4. Stephanie Weigman, 168, 2010
  5. Stephanie Weigman, 141, 2008

 

Winning it All: Weigman ranks second all-time at UMBC with 46 career wins, 11 behind current Retriever pitching coach Lauren Nicholson. In addition, Fefel became the eighth Retriever ever to win 30 games when she earned the victory against Mount St. Mary’s on March 21.

 

UMBC Career Wins

  1. Lauren Nicholson, 57, 2003-06
  2. Stephanie Weigman, 46, 2008-Present
  3. Amy Sadowl, 43, 2003-06
  4. Crystal Ray, 38, 1998-2000
  5. Jackie Ruffin, 35, 1997-2000

Angie Amedro, 35, 1999-2002

6.      Amanda Fefel, 31, 2007-Present

 

Climbing the Charts: Weigman also ranks among UMBC’s all-time leaders in a number of other categories including innings pitched (2nd, 549.0), games started (2nd, 78), appearances (2nd, 104), complete games (3rd, 55), opponent batting average (4th, .220), saves (T-5th, 3) shutouts (T-7th, 8) and ERA (8th, 2.45). Fefel is also among the top 10 in several pitching categories, including winning percentage (4th, .681), appearances (5th, 82), innings pitched (8th, 316.1), games started (8th, 51) and shutouts (T-10th, 6).

 

Closing It Out: Fefel is UMBC’s all-time saves leader with eight in her career, and she broke the school mark for saves in a single season with four in 2010.

 

One and Done: UMBC pitchers have tossed three one-hit shutouts this month. On April 6, Fefel defeated Georgetown, 2-0, and she did not allow a hit after a first-inning single, striking out a season-high seven batters. The next day Weigman fanned a career-high 15 in a 2-0 win over Coppin State and did not allow a hit until the fifth. Then last Wednesday, the pair combined on the gem in a 4-0 victory over the Eagles. Fefel retired the first nine batters of the game before giving way to Weigman, whose only hit allowed was an infield single in the sixth.

 

French Gets 500: UMBC’s second victory at Delaware on March 9 was the 500th of head coach Joe French’s career. French has coached for 17 years at three different schools, winning 95 games in four seasons at Mansfield University, 119 in four years at SUNY-Geneseo and 298 in nine years at UMBC. The Retrievers’ all-time winningest coach, he is just two victories shy of 300 in black and gold.

 

Extra, Extra: The Retrievers have played five extra-inning games this season, the most since playing seven in 2005. UMBC is 3-2 in contests lasting longer than seven frames this year.

 

It’s Outta Here: A pair of Retriever freshmen – pitcher Heather Brown (Pasadena, Md./Northeast) and infielder Ashley Scroggin (Stafford, Va./North Stafford) – watched their first career hits sail over the fence for a home run. Brown’s round-tripper came on March 7 against Brown University in her seventh career at-bat, while Scroggin’s occurred against Howard on March 17 in her third career trip to the plate.

 

In the Clutch: UMBC has been extremely successful driving in runners who reach third base with less than two outs, batting .513 in those situations. Fefel leads the way with eight hits in nine at-bats under those circumstances, but every Retriever with at least four at-bats in those situations is batting at least .333.

 

In the Clutch, Part 2: Fefel is also batting .484 (15-for-31) with runners in scoring position, leading four Retrievers hitting better than .340 with runners on second or third.

 

Rally on Two: Four Retrievers are batting better than .300 with two outs, led by Mason at .381 (8-for-21), while Thompson has a team-best 16 hits with two down, batting .364, and Page leads the Retrievers with eight two-out RBI.