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Albany, N.Y. - University at Albany Vice President and Director of Athletics Lee McElroy announced today the school's 2010 softball schedule. The Great Danes, who have won three America East Conference tournament championships, will compete in three tournaments, face a challenging conference slate, and play at least five games against NCAA Tournament participants from last season.
UAlbany kicks off the season at the Hatter Classic, hosted by Stetson of the Atlantic Sun Conference, on Feb. 26-28 in Florida. The tournament will also feature Bethune-Cookman, the runner-up squad in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference last season, Boston College of the Atlantic Coast Conference and the host school. The Great Danes also opened up their 2009 season at Stetson, placing second in the field.
Two weeks later, the Great Danes will embark on a trip to Virginia to play in the Mason Cherry Blossom Classic, hosted by George Mason of the Colonial Athletic Association, on March 12-14. UAlbany will face Cornell, last year's Ivy League champion, on consecutive days in addition to Niagara, the runner-up team in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, and Mount Saint Mary's of the Northeast Conference.
The Great Danes will trek back down to Virginia for Radford's Highlander Classic on March 20-21. The Highlanders registered 41 victories and won their first Big South Conference title last season. Kent State of the Mid-American Conference and Siena will also be in the field.
UAlbany's home opener will be against Siena in a non-league doubleheader at 2:30 p.m. on March 24 at Albany Field. The Great Danes won all four meetings between the clubs last spring. The teams meet again in Loudonville on April 27. In addition, the Great Danes will play non-conference doubleheaders on the road against Bryant (March 31), Cornell (April 7), Manhattan (April 13), Dartmouth (April 21) and Seton Hall (April 29).
Head coach Chris Cannata's squad will host America East opponents Binghamton (March 27-28), Boston University (April 10-11) and Maine (April 17-18). The team will travel to conference foes Hartford (April 3-4), Stony Brook (April 24-25) and UMBC (May 8-9) to close out the regular season. Five of the seven America East teams, including UAlbany, won at least 30 games last season. The mark was only bettered by the Big 12, Pacific-10 and Southeastern conferences. In addition, the America East champion has advanced to the NCAA regional final twice in the past three seasons.
UAlbany returns eight players who have earned all-conference or all-rookie team honors in their respective careers, which is the most of any school in the conference. Senior hurler Leah McIntosh, one of six seniors on the veteran squad, threw a national-best four perfect games in 2009 and was named the program's fourth America East pitcher of the year in the past seven seasons. She also landed on the NFCA All-Northeast Region First Team. Senior catcher Kat Smith, who has caught seven no-hitters, junior first baseman Gina Mason and junior utility player Kristine Bill are returning All-America East second-team selections.
2010 University at Albany Softball Schedule
February - 26 (Fri.) vs. Boston College!, 11 a.m.; 26 (Fri.) vs. Bethune-Cookman!, 1:30 p.m.; 27 (Sat.) vs. Bethune-Cookman!, 11 a.m.; 27 (Sat.) at Stetson!, 4 p.m.; 28 (Sun.) Consolation/Championship Games!, TBA.
March - 12 (Fri.) at George Mason#, 1:30 p.m.; 13 (Sat.) vs. Mount Saint Mary's#, 11:30 a.m.; 13 (Sat.) vs. Cornell#, 4:30 p.m.; 14 (Sun.) vs. Niagara#, 9 a.m.; 14 (Sun.) vs. Cornell#, 11:30 a.m.; 20 (Sat.) vs. Kent State$, 10 a.m.; 20 (Sat.) vs. Radford$, 2 p.m., 21 (Sun.) vs. Siena$, 10 a.m.; 21 (Sun.) Championship/Consolation Games$, 2/4 p.m.; 24 (Wed.) Siena (DH), 2:30 p.m.; 27 (Sat.) Binghamton* (DH), 1 p.m.; 28 (Sun.) Binghamton*, 12 p.m.; 31 (Wed.) at Bryant (DH), 3 p.m.
April - 3 (Sat.) at Hartford* (DH), 1 p.m.; 4 (Sun.) at Hartford*, 12 p.m.; 7 (Wed.) at Cornell (DH) 3 p.m.; 10 (Sat.) Boston U.* (DH), 1 p.m.; 11 (Sun.) Boston U.*, 12 p.m.; 13 (Tue.) at Manhattan (DH) 3 p.m.; 17 (Sat.) Maine* (DH), 1 p.m.; 18 (Sun.) Maine*, 12 p.m. 21 (Wed.) at Dartmouth (DH) 3 p.m.; 24 (Sat.) at Stony Brook* (DH), 1 p.m.; 25 (Sun.) at Stony Brook*, 12 p.m.; 27 (Tue.) at Siena (DH), 3 p.m.; 29 (Thu.) at Seton Hall (DH), 3 p.m.
May - 8 (Sat.) at UMBC* (DH), 1 p.m.; 9 (Sun.) at UMBC* 12 p.m.
*America East Conference Opponent !Stetson's Hatter Classic
#George Mason's Cherry Blossom Classic $Radford's Highlander Classic
Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information
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