UMBC

Julia Culotta

BALTIMORE—The UMBC softball team (22-21, 3-9 AE) returns to America East play this weekend with a three-game series at Hartford (15-18, 2-10 AE). The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. and a single game on Sunday at 12 p.m.

Last Time Out: The Retrievers dropped two of three games at Maine last weekend, with both losses coming in the Black Bears’ final at-bat. UMBC dropped the series opener, 3-2, on a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh, but rebounded to take the nightcap, 3-1. Maine then overcame a six-run deficit to take the rubber match, 8-7, in nine innings. Sophomore left fielder Kaela Mason (Bel Air, Md./Harford Tech) drove in five runs on the first day with a triple and a three-run homer. The Retrievers out-hit the Black Bears, 29-21, in the series, led by senior third baseman Amanda Fefel (Baltimore, Md./Catonsville), who went 7-for-13 with two doubles, a home run and three RBI.

On the Hawks: Hartford is 15-18 overall on the season and 2-10 in America East play. Second baseman Amanda Dilworth is batting a team-best .356, while pitcher Nicole Springer leads the Hawks with 11 doubles, five home runs and 29 RBI. Hartford is batting just .249 as a team and has been outscored, 160-125, on the season.

Inside the Series: UMBC leads the all-time series, 11-8, and has won seven in a row dating to 2007. Last season, the Retrievers shut out the Hawks in both games of a doubleheader, winning 9-0 and 8-0, before rain canceled the series finale. Stephanie Weigman (Elkridge, Md./Archbishop Spalding) picked up a pair of complete game victories, striking out 19 and allowing just three hits in 11 innings. Fefel has enjoyed facing Hartford pitching in the past, as she is 14-for-26 (.538) with three doubles, two homers and eight RBI in eight career games against the Hawks. Weigman has never allowed a run on just four hits with 27 strikeouts in 18.0 innings spanning three games against Hartford.

Fefel Honored: Fefel was named America East Player of the Week on Monday after batting .538 and slugging .923 in three games last week, picking up multiple hits in each contest. She also pitched to a 1.97 ERA with eight strikeouts in 10.2 innings. The award is the second of Fefel’s career and first since March 16, 2009. It is the third Player of the Week nod for a Retriever this season, as junior second baseman Lauren Brummell (Hanover, Va./Hanover) earned the honor twice earlier in the year.

Power Surge: Fefel’s home run in the first inning against Maine on Sunday was the 40th of her career, tying Kristie Pickeral’s UMBC record. Senior right fielder Emily Thompson (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Falls) ranks 10th all-time with 16 career round-trippers.

UMBC Career Home Runs

1.       Kristie Pickeral, 40, 2002-05

Amanda Fefel, 40, 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

Power Surge, Part II: Fefel’s home run against Maine on Sunday was also her 10th of the season, and she joins Pickeral as the only Retrievers ever to reach double digits three times in their careers. Fefel hit a career-high 13 home runs as a freshman in 2007 and also blasted 10 as a junior last season. Fefel is also tied for third in the America East this season.

UMBC Single-Season Home Runs

1. Melanie Denischuk, 24, 2006
2. Lauren Hebb, 15, 2003
3. Stevie Shore, 14, 2006
4. Amanda Fefel, 13, 2007
5. Kristie Pickeral, 12, 2003

Reilly Ward, 12, 2005

Reilly Ward, 12, 2006

8.      Stephanie Happel, 11, 2001

9.      Kristie Pickeral, 10, 2002

Kristie Pickeral, 10, 2004

Ashley Gray, 10, 2008

Amanda Fefel, 10, 2009

Amanda Fefel, 10, 2010

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 213 base knocks, tying former teammate Kali Shirk for seventh all-time.

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

Amanda Fefel, 213, 2007-Present

Three’s Company: 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 Pickeral in 2004.

Climbing the Charts: Fefel also ranks among UMBC’s all-time leaders in a number of other categories, including RBI (3rd, 173), total bases (3rd, 370), extra-base hits (T-3rd, 74), slugging percentage (4th, .585), walks (T-6th, 61), on-base percentage (8th, .395), games played (9th, 201), at-bats (9th, 632), games started (T-9th, 200), batting average (10th, .337) and runs (10th, 101).

Weigman’s Whiffs: Weigman struck out the 600th batter of her career on April 18 against Boston University. UMBC’s all-time record holder with 616, she has nearly 200 more whiffs than any other Retriever pitcher. Fefel ranks fourth with 280.

UMBC Career Strikeouts

1.       Stephanie Weigman, 616, 2008-Present

2.       Crystal Ray, 422, 1998-2000

3.       Lauren Nicholson, 387, 2003-06

4.       Amanda Fefel, 280, 2007-Present

5.       Ashley Gray, 229, 2007-08

Weigman’s Whiffs, Part II: Weigman has struck out 182 batters this season, the second-highest single-season total in school history to her record 293 K’s in 2009. She now has three of UMBC’s top five all-time marks.

UMBC Single-Season Strikeouts

1.      Stephanie Weigman, 293, 2009

2.      Stephanie Weigman, 182, 2010

3.      Crystal Ray, 172, 2000

4.      Crystal Ray, 169, 1999

5.      Stephanie Weigman, 141, 2008

Winning it All: Weigman ranks second all-time at UMBC with 47 career wins, 10 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, 47, 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

7.      Amanda Fefel, 32, 2007-Present

Climbing the Charts: Weigman also ranks among UMBC’s all-time leaders in a number of other categories, including innings pitched (2nd, 559.1), games started (2nd, 80), appearances (2nd, 107), complete games (3rd, 56), opponent batting average (4th, .221), saves (T-5th, 3), shutouts (T-7th, 8) and ERA (9th, 2.49). Fefel is also among the top 10 in several pitching categories, including appearances (5th, 84), winning percentage (5th, .667), innings pitched (8th, 327.0), games started (8th, 52) 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.

Comeback Kids: UMBC has won six games when tied or trailing after six innings, including a 3-1 victory over Boston University on April 17. With the score tied, 1-1, in the bottom of the seventh, junior designated player Lauren O'Malley (Pasadena, Md./Archbishop Spalding) singled up the middle with one out to set the stage for senior catcher Amanda Page (Batavia, N.Y./Batavia/Monroe CC), 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.

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 on April 14, 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 299 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 six extra-inning games this season, the most since playing seven in 2005. UMBC is 3-3 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 Scroggins 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 .506 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 II: Fefel is also batting .500 (16-for-32) with runners in scoring position, leading four Retrievers hitting better than .320 with runners on second or third.

Rally on Two: Five Retrievers are batting .300 or better with two outs, led by Mason at .375 (9-for-24), while Thompson has a team-best 17 hits with two down, batting .354, and Page leads the Retrievers with eight two-out RBI.

In a Pinch: The Retrievers have 14 pinch hits this season, including five each by Mason and O’Malley.