ALBANY, N.Y. - The University at Albany softball team opens the conference season with a doubleheader against UMass Lowell.
 
GAME INFORMATION
 
UMass Lowell at UAlbany (DH)
DATE: Sunday, March 26
TIME: 1:00 PM
SITE: UAlbany Field - Albany, N.Y.
RECORDS: UAlbany 7-8, 0-0 America East | UMass Lowell 9-12-1, 0-0 America East
SERIES RECORD: 18-18, series tied
STATS: UAlbanySports.com
STREAM: AE.TV
 
*records as of 3/24
 
GREAT DANE REWIND

• UAlbany opened the 2023 season in Conway, South Carolina at the Chanticleer Showdown (Feb. 24-26) before heading to the Spring Games at Madeira Beach (Mar. 3-5).
• In a slow start to the season, the Great Danes tallied a 1-4 record at Coastal Carolina. Earning a win over Mount St. Mary's (2.25), UAlbany fell twice to host Coastal Carolina and Saint Joseph's.
• At the Spring Games, the Great Danes worked for two shutout wins over LIU (3.3) and Georgetown (3.4) but fell to Southeastern Louisiana (3.3), Creighton (3.4), and MTSU (3.5).
• In their final tournament of the season (Mar. 18-19), UAlbany went 2-1 with wins over Lafayette and a loss to the host, Mount St. Mary's.
• Returning home, the Great Danes hosted Siena (3.22) for a doubleheader sweep. 

 
AT THE PLATE

• Tallying 20 hits, including a team-high three doubles and two home runs, senior Morgan Petty leads the team with a .408 batting average.
• Senior Maddi Petrella is close behind with a .400 batting average off 18 hits, including one double, one triple, and one homer.
• Junior Nordan Nastos leads with 11 RBI from 15 hits and ties Petty with two home runs.
• Tied for a team-high two home runs, sophomore Sierra Fretz has nine RBI from nine hits, including two doubles.

 
IN THE FIELD

• Graduate student Chloe Lewis leads the defense with 58 putouts.
• Freshman Deanna Grahek leads with 25 assists.
• Seven Great Danes have contributed to at least one double-play. Grahek leads with six and Lewis follows with four. Sierra Fretz and Jordan Nastos each have two while Maddi Petrella, senior Wendi Hammond, and sophomore Christie Collins have tallied one each.
• All five Great Dane pitchers have seen the circle for at least three innings.
• Wendi Hammond has seen the most time with 54.1 innings pitched and 28 strikeouts. She has pitched six complete games, including two shutouts, with nine starts and a 6-4 record in the circle.
• Sophomore Amelia Freitas, redshirt-sophomore Kate Powers, and Lewis follow with two starts for 16.0 IP, 10.2 IP, and 8.2 IP, respectively. Of the three listed, Powers leads with six strikeouts and one win. 

 
2023 AMERICA EAST WEEKLY AWARDS

• Player of the Week
  • Sierra Fretz - March 21
• Rookie of the Week
  • Sara Anderson - March 21

 
ABOUT UMASS LOWELL

• The River Hawks are 9-12-1 after six weeks of action.
• UMass Lowell earned their first win in the opening game of the Hampton/Norfolk State Invitational (Feb. 16-19) after four losses to Coastal Carolina (Feb. 9-10).
• After the LA Tech Tournament (Mar. 4-5), the River Hawks held a 3-9 record.
• With two doubleheaders against Grambling State (3.7) and Southern (3.8), UML made it a 6-9-1 start to the season.
• Most recently, the River Hawks went 2-3 at the Rutgers Tournament (Mar. 17-19) before winning a single game against UMass (3.22). 
• Morgan Fisher leads with a .385 batting average from 25 hits, including five doubles and two home runs, for 18 RBI.
• Cayla Tulley owns a team-high 20 RBI from 23 hits, including five doubles, two triples, and three home runs.
• Mya Case has hit a team-high five homers while adding four doubles and nine singles.
• In the circle, two pitchers have totaled at least 40 innings pitched. Giana LaCedra has seen a team-high 45.2 inning pitched with four complete games and seven starts but Ryley White leads with 54 strikeouts and a 1.55 ERA. Both LaCedra and White have pitched for two shutouts and each have a winning record in the circle.
• In the field, Fisher owns a team-high 91 putouts and Case leads with 42 assists.

 
SERIES AGAINST THE RIVER HAWKS

• The all-time series is tied, 18-18.
• During the 2022 season, the Great Danes won the regular season series, 2-1.
• After winning a one-run game, 2-1, for game one of the Saturday doubleheader, the River Hawks took game two, 10-7, on April 23. 
• UAlbany won the series with a 4-1 victory on April 24. The Great Danes' final run was a homer from Maddi Petrella.
• In the 2022 America East Championship Tournament, UAlbany defeated UMass Lowell twice. 
• After a first-round bye, UAlbany took a second-round win, 6-5, over the River Hawks before defeating UML, 5-3, in the final elimination game on May 13. Petrella hit the lone homer in the final elimination game.

 
PICKED THIRD

• The Great Danes were picked to finish third in the 2023 America East Preseason Coaches' Poll. 
• UAlbany tallied 17 points and no first-place votes.
• UMBC topped the poll with 35 points and five first-place votes while UMass Lowell followed with 20 points and one first-place vote. 
• Binghamton, with 16 points, grabbed the final first-place vote. Bryant and Maine tied for fifth with seven points.

 
AROUND THE AMERICA EAST

• Binghamton leads the conference with the only winning record - 11-7.
• UMBC is in second place with an 8-9 record.
• UAlbany is close behind with a 7-8 record.
• Going 9-12-1, UMass Lowell rounds out the top four.
• Bryant (7-11) and Maine (7-18) round out the conference while tying the Great Danes with seven wins each.

 
AMERICA EAST CONTESTS THIS WEEK

• Saturday
  • Bryant at UMBC, 4 pm
• Sunday
  • Maine at Binghamton, 11 am (DH)
  • Bryant at UMBC, 12 pm (DH)
  • UMass Lowell at UAlbany, 1 pm (DH)
• Tuesday
  • Bryant at Brown, 2 pm (DH)
  • Maine at Harvard, 2 pm
  • Binghamton at Cornell, 4 pm
• Wednesday
  • Merrimack at UMass Lowell, 1 pm (DH)

 
UP NEXT

• The Great Danes will continue their conference schedule on the road with a three-game series at Maine (April 1-2).

 
For more information on the University at Albany softball team, follow the squad's official social media accounts shown below.
Twitter - @ualbanysb
Instagram - @ualbanysb