Terriers, Retrievers to Clash in America East Softball Tourney Thursday
May 11, 2011 | Softball
Listen | Gametracker | AE Championship Central
Setterlund Headlines Year-End Awards
BOSTON - The two-time defending America East champion and top-seeded Boston University softball team will welcome fourth-seeded UMBC on Thursday (May 12) to BU Softball Field in the first game of the America East Softball Championship. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
BU is in search if its third straight title - a feat that has been accomplished just two other times in conference history. Hofstra won four straight from 1998-2001 and Albany most recently won three in a row from 2005-2007.
The America East Softball Championship is a double-elimination tournament.
BU IN AE TOURNEY: This season is the 12th consecutive AE tournament appearance for the Terriers, as they hold a 42-24 mark in the America East championship and have advanced to the title game in 14 of the last 19 years. The Terriers have clinched the tournament title eight times (1992, `93, `96, `97, `02, `03, `09, `10) and advanced to the NCAA tournament five times (1996, `02, `03, '09, `10).
BU is making its eighth appearance as the top seed. The Terriers are 13-7 overall since 1992. Thursday's game marks just the second time in league history that BU has hosted the tourney. In 2007, the Terriers were eliminated in two games.
BU-UMBC SERIES: BU leads the all-times series, 18-6, and has won seven of its last nine games against the Retrievers. Thursday's contest will mark just the second time in the series history that the teams have met in the AE tourney. Back in 2008, the Retrievers handed the Terriers a 5-3 loss, which knocked them out of the tourney.
BU won the 2011 regular-season series against UMBC after splitting its doubleheader on April 9 and then claiming a 5-3 victory in the rubber match on April 10. Redshirt freshman Chelsea Kehr provided the heroics with a walk-off three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning of game three.
BU UDPATE: The America East Conference announced on Wednesday (May 11) that the BU softball program received four year-end honors, highlighted by senior April Setterlund's Co-Player of the Year nod. Freshman Holli Floetker was named the Pitcher of the Year, while Kehr was the Rookie of the Year. Seventh-year head coach Shawn Rychcik garnered Coach of the Year honors.
Setterlund is the first two-time Player of the Year since Jamie Haas ('05) earned it in both 2002 and 2003, and she is the league's 11th four-time first-team honoree. With five career program records (batting average, hits, doubles, RBI, runs, slugging percentage) and six single-season marks under her belt, the Torrance, Calif., native is looking to etch her name atop three more marks before season's end. She needs three home runs and 10 walks to break program career records as well as three walks to snap the single-season mark.
Meanwhile, Kehr has made a mark for herself in her rookie campaign, leading the team in RBIs (44) and home runs (10). Her 44 RBIs rank second all-time at BU for a single season and just nine away from breaking the mark. America East All-Conference Second Team honoree Jayme Mask is second on the squad in batting (.347) and has scored a league-high 44 runs, ranking fifth all-time at BU for a single season.
In the circle, Floetker (12-4) owns a team-best 1.87 ERA with 95 strikeouts and three shutouts. AE All-Conference Second Team selection Erin Schuppert has made 22 appearances and has amassed a 10-5 mark with three shutouts and 47 strikeouts.
UMBC UPDATE: The Retrievers are led offensively by Julia Culotta, who ranks in the top five in batting (.391), slugging percentage (.662), on-base percentage (.512), runs (37) and walks (31). America East All-Conference First Team honoree Lauren Brummell, who is batting .340, has also been a major contributor. She has recorded a conference-high 55 hits with 12 doubles, 25 RBIs and 29 runs. Senior Stephanie Weigman, the Retrievers' ace, was named to the AE All-Conference Second Team after leading the league in wins (16) and ranking second with 133 Ks and 14 complete games.
NEXT UP: The winner of Thursday's showdown between BU and UMBC will play on Friday morning (May 13) at 11 a.m. against either second-seeded Albany or third-seeded Binghamton. The losing teams will play at 1:30 p.m. in the double-elimination tourney.
