University of AlbanySoftball Seeded Fourth for A-East Tournament; Connors Named Co-Player of the Week

Cambridge, Mass. - University at Albany's Michelle Connors was named America East Conference Co-Player of the Week in softball, as announced by the league office on Monday, May 10.

Connors played a key role in helping UAlbany clinch an America East Conference postseason berth in a three-game weekend series at UMBC by going 5-for-10 with seven RBIs and registering three extra-base hits. After recording a single in the opener of a twinbill on May 8, Connors went 2-for-4 with four RBIs to propel UAlbany to a 7-3 victory in the nightcap. A native of Clifton Park, N.Y., she clubbed a two-run homer in the first inning and blasted a two-run double to deep center in the second. Her two-bagger would later stand as the game-winning hit and punched the Great Danes' ticket to the tournament. In addition, the senior helped push across two insurance runs in the sixth inning by beating out a throw to first after fanning on a wild pitch for what would have been the third and final out in the frame.

Connors went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs to help UAlbany, which has won six of its last seven games, grind out a 5-4 victory in the rubber match one day later. The senior singled up the middle to tie the game in the third before belting a double down the line in left in the fifth to put the Great Danes ahead for good. Connors enters the conference tournament with 35 career doubles. She needs four more to break the school record. In addition, her 23 career home runs rank third on the program's all-time list.

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Orono, Maine - UAlbany was tabbed as the fourth seed for this week's America East Conference Softball Championship, a double-elimination tournament which will be hosted by second-seed Maine from May 13-15. The Great Danes, who have won three tournament titles and advanced to the championship round a league-best five straight seasons, are making their ninth consecutive conference postseason tournament appearance.

UAlbany (20-21, AE 9-8) will take on top-seed Boston University (31-19, AE 14-3), which declined the right to host due to conflicts with its school's graduation, in the first game on Thursday, May 13 at 1 p.m. Maine (22-26, AE 11-7) will face No. 3 Stony Brook (29-19-1, AE 10-7) in the second game, scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. The winners of the first two games will face off on Friday, May 14, starting at 11 a.m., while the losers of Thursday's games will play at 1:30 p.m. in an elimination game. A second team will go home later on Friday when the winner of previous game and the loser of the day's first game meet at 4 p.m. The 2010 America East champion will be named on Saturday, May 15. The final two teams standing will play at 12 noon with a second game slated for 2:30 p.m., if necessary. The winner will earn an automatic berth in the 2010 NCAA Tournament.

The lower seeds have found recent success in the America East postseason competition. The regular-season champion has not claimed the title since 2005 and the host school has not captured the crown since 2004. UAlbany, which is seeded fourth for the first time since winning it all in 2007, has been led by junior first baseman Gina Mason and senior pitcher Leah McIntosh. Mason, who made the all-conference second team last season, ranks first on the squad in batting average (.357), home runs (8), RBIs (30), hits (40), runs scored (24), slugging percentage (.634) and on-base percentage (.456). McIntosh, who holds the school's program record for career strikeouts (720) and is the league's reigning pitcher of the year, boasts a team-best 2.50 earned run average and has fanned 99 batters in 78.1 innings of work. Senior utility player Michelle Connors closed out the regular season with a hot bat and is hitting .529 in the last five contests, while outfielder Jessica Bergin and shortstop Andrianna Walraven are having breakout junior campaigns. Bergin has a .301 average and a team-leading 17 stolen bases, while Walraven is batting .286 with 16 thefts.

2010 America East Conference Softball Championship

(played at Maine's Kessock Field)

Thursday, May 13

Game 1: #1 Boston U. (31-19, AE 14-3) vs. #4 UAlbany (20-21, AE 9-8), 1 p.m.
Game 2: #2 Maine (22-26, AE 11-7) vs. #3 Stony Brook (29-19-1, AE 10-7), 3:30 p.m.
Friday, May 14
Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 11 a.m.
Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 1:30 p.m. (elimination game)
Game 5: Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 4 p.m. (elimination game)

Saturday, May 15
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5, 12 p.m. (championship game)
Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6, 2:30 p.m. (if necessary)


Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information