Softball Opens 2015 Season At Florida Atlantic Invitational

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL 

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Coming off a 2014 America East championship and NCAA Regional appearance, the University at Albany softball team opens the 2015 season Friday at the Florida Atlantic Invitational in Boca Raton, Fla. There, the Great Danes will play five games, taking on North Florida, Princeton, Florida A&M, and the hosting Owls.

SCOUTING UALBANY (0-0, 0-0 America East)
2014 Record: 34-13, 14-3 America East
2015 America East Preseason Poll: 2^nd/7
Head Coach: Chris Cannata (UAlbany '85), 21st season

THE COACH: Chris Cannata, a four-time America East Conference Coach of the Year and the winningest head coach in the UAlbany softball program, enters her 21st season in 2015. During her tenure at UAlbany, the Great Danes have compiled a 604-309-1 overall record, a 181-69-1 mark in America East play, a .662 winning percentage and have averaged over 30 wins per season. Cannata has also led the Great Danes to five NCAA Tournament appearances, as well as, five America East regular-season championships and five tournament titles since the program joined Division I in 2000. The club, which has won at least 30 games in the last 12 of 14 seasons, has never finished lower than fourth in the America East standings.

OVERVIEW: The 2014 season featured a historic run to the NCAA Regional in Eugene, Ore., as the Great Danes boasted a 34-13 overall record and 14-3 conference mark. Facing elimination in the America East Tournament with two outs in the bottom of the 10^th inning, Elizabeth Snow's three-run walk-off home run lifted UAlbany to a 3-2 victory over Stony Brook and forced a deciding game that the Danes went on to win, 8-1. With the triumph, UAlbany captured its fifth conference tournament title and advanced to its fifth NCAA tournament. Edged 1-0 by Wisconsin in the first game, UAlbany overcame Utah Valley, 4-3, for the program's third NCAA win in history. Snow was named America East Rookie of the Year, while Brittany MacFawn, Maggie Cocks, and Vicky McFarland picked up first-team honors, highlighting a cast of eight on the first and second squads.

RETURNING THREATS
In 2015, the Great Danes return five all-conference selections including first-team honorees Elizabeth Snow -- the reigning America East Rookie of the Year -- Maggie Cocks, Vicky McFarland, and second-teamers Kelly Costello and Marlin Solano. The Great Danes will look for power hitters Cocks (.372, 34 RBI), Snow (.315, 30 RBI), and Solano (.280, 29 RBI) to have another strong year in the middle of the order after combining for 93 runs batted in last spring. At the top of the order, McFarland returns after boasting a .314 average, 31 stolen bases, and 41 runs, as well as Costello with a .280 average, 21 RBIs, and 31 runs.   

FRESH FACES IN THE CIRCLE
UAlbany will look to quickly fill the void of graduated pitcher Brittany MacFawn, UAlbany's all-time wins and strikeouts leader. The Great Danes will look to their young pitching staff, featuring two sophomores, Mackenzie Thompson and Caitlin Cooper, and three freshmen -- Devin Durando, Nicole Parks, and Erynn Sobieski -- to step into a premier role.

UALBANY SELECTED SECOND IN PRESEASON POLL
With 31 total points and two first-place votes, UAlbany placed second behind Stony Brook in the America East Preseason Poll, announced by the conference office. The Seawolves, who won the regular season title in 2014, earned five first-place votes for a total of 34 points. Binghamton (28) was picked third, followed by Maine (21), UMBC (17), UMass Lowell (10), and Hartford (7).

SCOUTING NORTH FLORIDA (8-2, 0-0 Atlantic Sun)
2014 Record: 26-23, 11-11 Atlantic Sun
2015 Atlantic Sun Poll: 5^th/8
Head Coach: Marcie Hickey (Bloomsburg '99), 7th season

THE COACH: Marcie Hickey enters her seventh year at the helm of the Ospreys and brings 13 years of experience as a head coach to the 2015 season. She is the all-time wins leader in UNF's Division I history with 169 victories. Under Hickey's tutelage, the Ospreys completed their final year in the Division I reclassification process and had at least one player earn postseason honors in each of the last six years.

OVERVIEW: The Osprey's enter the weekend with an 8-2 overall record and come off an 8-1 win over Florida A&M. North Florida opened the season with seven straight wins before Virginia Tech (7-4, L) and Jacksonville State (6-5, L) stopped the steak. Batting .282 as a team, Shelby Duncan (.400), Stacy McClelland (.395, 3 HR), and Katie Mandigo (.368, 15 RBI) lead the squad offensively. In the circle, the pitching staff has a combined 1.70 ERA, led by Kayla Goff's 4-1 record and 1.21 ERA, as well as Kaylie Wallace's 2-1 mark and 0.95 ERA.

SCOUTING PRINCETON (0-0, 0-0 Ivy League)
2014 Record: 17-26, 9-11 Ivy
Head Coach: Lisa Van Ackeren (Lehigh '09), 3rd season

THE COACH: Lisa (Sweeney) Van Ackeren, a four-time Patriot League Pitcher of the Year at Lehigh and a New Jersey native, is in her third season as Princeton's head softball coach in 2015. In her first season, Van Ackeren became the winningest first-year coach in Princeton softball history, finishing at 27-19 and with the best record since the Tigers went 34-19 in 2006. Princeton's 12-8 Ivy League record in Van Ackeren's first year was the program's best since 2008, when the team went 18-2. Through two seasons, Van Ackeren has a record of 44-45, already the fourth-winningest coach in program history. Van Ackeren, a 2009 Lehigh graduate, coached as a volunteer assistant at Lehigh in 2010 and was an assistant coach at Penn in 2011 and 2012.

OVERVIEW: Like UAlbany, Princeton will be playing its first games of the season this weekend. The Tigers finished the 2014 season with a 17-26 overall record and tied for second in the Ivy League South standings with a 9-11 mark. Princeton returns eight of nine field players who started at least 30 games last year, as well as 287 innings in the circle.

SCOUTING FLORIDA A&M (0-12, 0-0 MEAC)
2014 Record: 25-29, 9-6 MEAC
Head Coach: Veronica Wiggins

OVERVIEW: Florida A&M will look for its first win of the season this weekend, coming off an 8-1 loss to fellow tournament participant North Florida, 8-1. The Lady Rattlers have had a challenging schedule out of the gate, opening the season with No. 6 Kentucky (4-2, L), as well as facing No. 5 Florida State (12-5, L). At the plate, the team has a combined .203 batting average led by Jessica Nathan (.351, 3 RBI) and Alyssa Weaver (.300, 2 RBI). In the circle, Keny Pereira (0-8, 5.12 ERA), has pitched a majority of the innings, tossing 53.1 frames with 34 strikeouts.

SCOUTING FLORIDA ATLANTIC (9-1, 0-0 C-USA)
2014 Record: 33-22. 15-9 C-USA
2015 C-USA Preseason Poll: 3^rd/12
Head Coach: Joan Joyce (Chapman College '66), 21^st season

THE COACH: Joan Joyce is the only head coach Florida Atlantic softball has had in its 20-year history. Joyce has led the program to eight consecutive Atlantic Sun Conference Championships (1997-2004)--nine in all (2006)--and six-straight NCAA Tournament appearances (1999-2004)--seven in all (2006). In FAU's first season as a member of the Sun Belt, the Owls were crowned regular season and conference tournament champions.

OVERVIEW: Florida Atlantic enters the weekend with a 9-1 record and eight-game win-streak, overcoming Arkansas, Georgia Tech, Penn State, LIU Brooklyn, Tulsa, Michigan State, Providence, and Maryland. The only loss on the season was a one-run defeat to Kansas. Offensively, the squad boasts a .292 batting average led by Laura Mann (.385), Christina Martinez (.361), and Melissa Martinez (.333, 16 RBI). Defensively, the pitching staff owns a 1.42 combined ERA shared across four arms. In 2014, FAU had a 15-9 league record in its first season in Conference USA and finished the season with a 33-22 overall record, its first winning season since 2011. Samantha Messer was named the Conference USA Preseason Pitcher of the Year. Messer is coming off a 2014 campaign where she finished 15-8 with a 1.45 ERA and 85 strikeouts. Catcher Mickey Bell and outfielder Christina Martinez were also preseason selections for the Owls.

ON DECK
The Great Danes will compete in the Winthrop University Tournament, March 6-8, where they will take on Winthrop, Western Carolina, Belmont, and Furman.