ALBANY, N.Y. - The University at Albany softball team heads to Columbia before opening at home this weekend.
 
GAME INFORMATION
 
UAlbany at Columbia
DATE: Wednesday, March 26
TIME: 4:00 PM
SITE: Columbia Softball Stadium - New York, N.Y.
RECORDS: UAlbany 7-15, 0-2 America East | Columbia 9-9, 3-0 Ivy League
SERIES RECORD: 2-2, series tied
STATS: GoColumbiaLions.com
STREAM: ESPN+
INT'L STREAM: Stretch Internet
TICKETS: Free
 
Bryant at UAlbany
SITE: UAlbany Field - Albany, N.Y.
RECORDS: UAlbany 7-15, 0-2 America East | Bryant 10-14, 3-0 America East
SERIES RECORD: 9-8, UAlbany leads
STATS: UAlbanySports.com
TICKETS: Free
 
DATE: Saturday, March 29
TIME: 1:00 PM (DH)
STREAM: AmericaEast.TV
 
DATE: Sunday, March 30
TIME: 12:00 PM
STREAM: AmericaEast.TV
 
*records as of 3/24
 
LAST WEEK IN REVIEW

• The Great Danes competed in a midweek doubleheader against Army before visiting Binghamton to open conference play.
• They split the doubleheader in West Point and fell in both games at Binghamton.
• Sophomore Taylor Quinn led at Army with a .500 batting average. She hit a double in a 4-3 loss and tallied the lone RBI in a 1-0 extra-inning win.
• Sophomore Mary Kate Murray (3-6) and freshman Vanessa Meyers (3-5) led in the doubleheader against the Bearcats. Junior Deanna Grahek tallied a team-high three RBI throughout the contests.

 
GREAT DANE REWIND

• UAlbany holds a 7-15 overall record with an 0-2 conference record.
• With an 0-9 start to the season, the Great Danes closed the Make It Happen Games with a 5-4 win over Bethune-Cookman (Mar. 2).
• UAlbany participated in the GW Invitational (Mar. 8-9) hosted by George Washington in Washington, D.C. They played for two wins and two losses. Both wins came against Manhattan and both losses to the host, GW.
• The Great Danes closed tournament action at the Mount Softball Invitational in Emmitsburg, Maryland. They won three of the four games with two of the wins coming in six innings against the host, Mount St. Mary's.  
• Most recently, UAlbany added a split doubleheader at Army for their first midweek doubleheader (Mar. 19) before opening conference play at Binghamton (Mar. 22).

 
AT THE BATTER'S BOX

• Freshman Ava Beal has become a recent leader to the Great Dane offense. With 11 starts in 22 contests, she is hitting .316. She is currently ranked top 10 in the conference with her batting average.
• Taylor Quinn (.308) and freshman Charlotte Lomb (.306) are right behind Beal ranked 10th and 11th, respectively, in the conference. They make it three on the team hitting over .300.
• Hitting two home runs in the last week, Deanna Grahek leads with a .851 OPS and .482 slugging percentage. Quinn is close behind with a .803 OPS and a .446 slugging percentage. 
• Both Grahek and Quinn have totaled six extra-base hits. Grahek has two doubles, two triples, and two homers while Quinn has three doubles and a conference-leading three triples.
• Redshirt-senior Victoria Vilarchao shares the team-lead with three doubles.
• Taking full advantage of getting on base, senior Caitlyn Frederick leads the conference with 10 stolen bases. She is ranked second on the team with 16 hits.

 
IN THE CIRCLE

• Three UAlbany pitchers are sharing time in the circle, each with seven starts.
• Redshirt-senior Kate Powers leads with four complete games, including one shutout, and 50.0 innings pitched. Powers has a team-low ERA of 3.78, good for seventh in the conference.
• Freshman Hailey Errichiello is close behind with three complete games, including one shutout, and 43.2 innings pitched.
• Freshman Hayley Wieczerzak has pitched just 33.2 innings but owns the team-high with 48 strikeouts. She has struck out at least 10 batters in two different games this season.

 
2025 WEEKLY AWARDS

• Pitcher of the Week
  • Hayley Wieczerzak - March 11, 2025
  • Hayley Wieczerzak - March 18, 2025
• Rookie of the Week
  • Ava Beal - March 18, 2025
• Player of the Week
  • Taylor Quinn - March 18, 2025

 
ABOUT COLUMBIA

• The Lions started off the season at the UCF SpaceU Classic (Feb. 21-23) in Orlando, Fla. Playing five games, they went 2-3 with their two wins coming against Pitt and Quinnipiac. 
• Columbia traveled back to Florida for the FGCU Spring Break Classic (Mar. 7-9) before visiting California for a series of seven games, two which were canceled, for spring break (Mar. 14-18). They tabbed two wins during each trip to go 4-10 overall.
• Most recently, Columbia started off Ivy League play with three wins over Penn (Mar. 22-23).
• Hitting .413 with 19 hits, 16 RBI, and 8 doubles, Cami Neal leads Columbia's offense.
• Overall, six Lions are hitting over .300, including Sarah Mikami (.388) and Juju O'Brien (.357) with batting averages over .350.
• In the circle, Emmy Davis has seen the most innings (37.0) with a team-low 4.35 ERA.
• Davis splits time with Jordan Hill who has pitched 27.2 innings with 16 strikeouts. 
• As a team, Columbia has six pitchers sharing time in the circle. 

 
SERIES AGAINST THE LIONS

• The series is tied, 2-2.
• The most recent meeting between these two teams was in Madeira Beach, Fla. in 2020. Columbia edged UAlbany, 2-1.
• Former Great Dane Alexis Phillips scored the lone run in the contest.

 
ABOUT BRYANT

• The Bulldogs have started the season off 10-14 with three of their wins coming most recently against Maine in the opening of America East play. 
• Bryant traveled to Huntsville, Texas to compete in the Bearkat Classic (Feb. 7-9) and open the season. The Bulldogs went 1-5 with a win against Texas A&M - Corpus Christi.
• With three more tournament weekends - Campbell Tournament (Feb. 14-15), Demarini Tiger Clash (Feb. 28- Mar. 2), and the John B. Invite (Mar. 7-9) - the Bulldogs brought their record to 7-14. 
• Transfer Meaghan Houk leads the team with a .397 batting average, a 1.093 OPS, and 19 RBI. 
• Two additional Bulldogs are hitting over .300 - Bryce Clendenin (.368) and Sam Rohwer (.338).
• Houk and Makenna Coleman lead the team with three home runs each. Coleman has tallied the most extra-base hits with seven doubles, one triple, and three homers.
• Maddy Wachter has seen the most time in the circle for the Bulldogs. She leads with 52.2 innings, including five complete games, a 3.42 ERA, and 35 strikeouts. 
• Brooke Tracy (28.2 IP), Lexi Powell (27.1 IP), and Grace McKillop (24.1 IP) have also seen significant time in the circle with four starts each.

 
SERIES AGAINST THE BULLDOGS

• The Great Danes lead the series, 9-8. 
• UAlbany and Bryant played a three-game series in Rhode Island during the 2024 season. The Bulldogs came out on top in all three contests. 
• Current Great Danes Victoria Vilarchao, Deanna Grahek, and Mary Kate Murray each contributed at least one RBI and one hit throughout the weekend.
• In Bryant's first season with the America East (2023), UAlbany won both of the matchups against the Bulldogs. 
• Overall, the first contest between the two teams was in 2009. It was a 2-0 victory for UAlbany. 

 
PICKED FIRST

• The Great Danes were picked to finish first in the 2025 America East Preseason Coaches' Poll
• UAlbany earned 23 points with three first-place votes.
• Binghamton was close behind UAlbany with 22 points and two first-place votes.
• Kate Powers and Mary Kate Murray made the first-ever preseason all-conference team.

 
2025 PRESEASON AWARDS

• America East Preseason All-Conference
  • Kate Powers
  • Mary Kate Murray

 
AROUND THE AMERICA EAST

• After the first weekend of conference play, Bryant (3-0) and Binghamton (2-0) came out undefeated. Bryant with three wins over Maine while Binghamton swept the doubleheader over UAlbany. 
• Following behind is UMBC. The Retrievers won two of their three games against UMass Lowell. 
• UAlbany and Maine are still looking for their first conference wins after falling to Binghamton and Bryant in their respective matchups. 

 
*written as of March 25
 
AMERICA EAST CONTESTS THIS WEEK

• Wednesday
  • UAlbany at Columbia, 4 pm
  • UMass at Bryant, 4 pm
• Friday
  • Maine at UMass Lowell, 1 pm (DH)
• Saturday
  • Maine at UMass Lowell, 11 am
  • Binghamton at UMBC, 12 pm (DH)
  • Bryant at UAlbany, 1 pm (DH)
• Sunday
  • Binghamton at UMBC, 12 pm
  • Bryant at UAlbany, 12 pm

 
UP NEXT

• The Great Danes will face CCSU on the road (Apr. 1) before returning home to host a series against UMass Lowell (Apr. 5-6). 

 
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