Softball To Open America East Play At Hartford

LIVE STATS

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Due to inclement weather, Friday's softball game at Hartford has been cancelled. The series will be shortened to two games as the squads will now play a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 11:30 a.m.

SCOUTING THE HAWKS
Hartford enters the weekend with a 3-21 overall record and comes off a 2-9 week at the USF-Under Armour Invitational in Clearwater, Fla. There, the Hawks earned a 4-2 win over Bowling Green and a 4-3 victory over Georgia Tech. In their final two games, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga edged the Hawks 3-2 and Marist wrapped the tournament with a 4-1 triumph. On the season, Hartford is batting .232 as a team led by senior Sawyer Fried's .303 average and Danielle DeMarco's .292 mark with 11 RBIs. Defensively, the pitching staff owns a collective 7.46 ERA. Melissa Pereira (0-2, 5.47 ERA), Lexi Wilkerson (2-6, 6.75 ERA), and Bianca Ross (1-7, 7.17 ERA) have all shared time in the circle, each making 12 appearances.

UALBANY'S LAST TIME OUT
UAlbany comes off a 6-2 showing at the Rebel Spring Games in Kissimmee, Fla. improving to 13-8 on the season. On the week, the Great Danes went 2-0 vs. Rider, 2-1 vs. Indiana State, and 2-1 vs. Bucknell. Senior Maggie Cocks and freshman Chelsea Henige both batted .370 with 10 hits and eight RBIs apiece in the Florida tournament.

DURANDO NAMED PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Sophomore Devin Durando was named the America East Pitcher of the Week, announced by the conference office Tuesday. Durando, a native of Oakland, N.J., boasted a 3-0 record with a 0.78 ERA at the Rebel Spring Games. Durando allowed just two earned runs and 11 hits, while striking out 14 in 18.0 innings of work. In UAlbany's 7-1 win over Rider, Durando held the Broncs to one unearned run and three scattered hits, while striking out a season-high nine batters. She also picked up the win in UAlbany's 12-2 five-inning victory over Indiana State, holding the Sycamores to one earned run and five hits. Durando struck out one and did not issue a single walk in the contest. Lastly, the right-handed hurler earned the win in the Danes' 6-3 triumph over Bucknell, allowing just one earned run and three hits, while striking out four in 6.0 innings.

LEADING THE BATS
As a team, the Great Danes are boasting a .307 batting average with seven starters hitting above the .300 mark. Junior Liz Snow leads the squad with a .447 average with 17 runs batted in, followed by freshman McKenzie Bump (.338, 14 RBI), senior Kelly Costello (.333, 16 RBI), sophomore Donna Conrad (.308, 10 RBI), and senior Maggie Cocks (.304, 16 RBI).

IN THE CIRCLE
Through 21 games, UAlbany's pitching staff has combined for a 4.43 ERA led by sophomore Devin Durando's 8-3 mark in the circle with a 3.87 ERA and 35 strikeouts. Freshman Celeste Verdolivo is off to a great start in her rookie campaign with a 4-3 record and 2.85 ERA with seven complete games.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
UAlbany leads the league and ranks 18th in the nation for doubles per game, averaging 1.67 per contest. Senior Kelly Costello and junior Liz Snow lead the team with six doubles each this season.

COCKS CLIMBS THE RBI LEADER BOARD
Already the program's career leader in doubles with 42, senior Maggie Cocks now ranks second all-time with 134 runs batted in. Cocks is 22 off the record of 156 set by Kelly Ogden (2004-07).

UP NEXT
The Great Danes play at Colgate on Tuesday before their home opening weekend against conference foe UMass Lowell, April 2-3.