UMBC

Joe French led the Retrievers to their fifth America East Tournament in the last six years.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—The UMBC softball team (25-23, 8-10 AE) has earned the No. 4 seed in this weekend’s America East Championship and will face top-seeded and host Boston University (32-16, 14-4 AE) on Thursday at BU Softball Field, the league announced Sunday evening.

UMBC returns to the conference tournament after missing it last year for the first time since 2005. The Retrievers completed their conference schedule last week but made the four-team field as a result of Maine losing twice to Hartford this weekend.

“We are very excited to return to the America East Tournament,” head coach Joe French said. “We have been working toward this goal since last year’s disappointment of not making it. We will be ready for the challenge of trying to bring home an America East title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.”

Albany (25-21, 14-4 AE), the league’s regular-season co-champion, earned the No. 2 seed in the tournament, while Binghamton (22-21, 10-7), which makes its first-ever appearance in the field, will be the third seed.

Game times will be announced on Monday.

2011 America East Softball Championship

Thursday, May 12

Game 1: No. 1 Boston U. vs. No. 4 UMBC

Game 2: No. 2 Albany vs. No. 3 Binghamton

Friday, May 13

Game 3: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner

Game 4: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser (Elimination Game)

Game 5: Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Winner (Elimination Game)

Saturday, May 14

Game 6: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner (Championship Game)

Game 7: Game 6 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser (If Necessary)