Maggie Cocks Earns America East Softball Rookie of the Week Honors

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – University at Albany softball shortstop Maggie Cocks was named America East Rookie of the Week on Monday, March 4. The freshman helped lead the Great Danes to a 4-1 mark at the Coastal Carolina Invitational this past week.

Cocks, a native of Walden, N.Y., hit .500 (6-for-12) over the span of five games in Conway, SC. Four of those hits were for extra bases, including the first homer of her career. She also scored a pair of runs, drove in three and walked twice. In a 9-0 win over Drexel, Cocks chipped in a career-high three hits and two RBIs. She currently ranks third on the team in batting average, .318 and second in slugging percentage (.591) and on-base percentage (.448). Her early season success has been noticed as she's started all 10 games at shortstop.

UAlbany will turn their attention to the Rebel Games to close out their 2013 tournament season. The Great Danes will play nine games in Kissimmee, Fla. from March 14-19.

UAlbany Sweeps Final America East Weekly Women's Basketball Awards of the Season

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – After leading the UAlbany women’s basketball team to a 2-0 week, which also capped off a perfect 16-0 America East slate, center Megan Craig and forward Shereesha Richards swept the final America East weekly awards for the 2012-13 season. It is just the seventh unbeaten season in America East history - and the first since the 2008-09 season. Craig wraps up the season the same way she started, as she was the first Player of the Week of the season, and earned her second for the final week of the season, as she averaged 16.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game. She shot 66.7 percent from the floor and 71.4 percent from the free throw line in wins over New Hampshire and Stony Brook. Craig was third in the conference in scoring for the week, second in field goal percentage and first in blocks. She led the Great Danes back from their largest halftime deficit of the season at New Hampshire, scoring 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting while adding five rebounds, one steal and one block. She followed that with 13 points of 5-of-7 shooting along with three blocks in UAlbany’s season-finale win over Stony Brook on Saturday.   Richards was named the league's Rookie of the Week for a conference-best seventh time after averaging 11.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. She shot a conference-best 71.4 percent from the floor, while also recording two steals in each game. In a win on the road at New Hampshire, Richards was just short of a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds, shooting 4-of-6 from the floor. In the regular-season finale against Stony Brook at home, the rookie totaled 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting, with five rebounds, and two steals. Craig and Richards, along with the rest of the Great Danes, will look ahead to the weekend, as UAlbany hosts the 2013 America East Conference Championship Tournament.

Rachael Burek Garners America East Player Of The Week

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Falling early to injury in the season-opener against then No. 3 Florida, the University at Albany women's lacrosse senior attack Rachael Burek came back strong this past week and earned the America East Conference Player of the Week, on Monday, March 4.

Burek, who played in just three minutes against Florida and missed the Niagara contest, came back strong at home against Bryant. The Rensselear, N.Y. native rattled off a personal-best nine points, six goals and three assists, in the Great Dane win over Bryant, 15-4, on Saturday, March 2. The senior attack's nine-point performance was one point shy of the program record in a single game. Her nine points pushed her 94 points in her career and is six points shy of becoming the 16th player in UAlbany history to record at least 100 points for a career.

Burek and the rest of the Great Danes will look to get ready for the Minutewomen of UMass on Friday, Mar. 8 in Amherst, Mass. at McGuirk Stadium. Game is slated for 4 p.m.

Softball gains split at Arizona State Invitational

TEMPE, Ariz.—Junior third baseman Mikala King finished with three RBI while junior second baseman Jessica Bump and freshman first baseman Tiffany McIntosh each drilled a two-run home run, as Binghamton (2-6) gained a split on the second day of the Arizona State/Wilson DeMarini Invitational. The Bearcats outlasted North Dakota (2-8) 8-5 in the opening game before succumbing to No. 20 Baylor (18-3) 6-1 in the nightcap.

King drove in all of her runs in the bottom of the fourth inning against North Dakota. With the based loaded and the Bearcats down 1-0, she delivered a three-run double that ignited the squad’s offense. McIntosh made it 5-1 one inning later with her homer, which was her team-best second of the season.
Bump’s homer in the bottom of the sixth inning was her first of the season and padded the lead to 7-3. Freshman outfielder Sydney Harbaugh followed with a walk and was then doubled home by senior outfielder Jessica Phillips.

Senior pitcher Kate Price got the win, raising her record to 1-2. The loss was tagged to Michelle Frank, who is now 2-5.

“It was good to see the bats come alive in the first game,” head coach Michelle Burrell said. “Mikala came through with a big hit and we kept the momentum at the plate the rest of the game.”
Against the nationally-ranked Bison, however, Binghamton fell behind 6-0 after five innings. The Bears got their final four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Lindsey Hays belted a two-run double and Heather Sterns delivered a two-run single during that frame.
Harbaugh broke the shutout with a RBI single on a bunt in the top of the sixth inning. She finished the game 2-for-3 and is now batting a team-best .381.
Stearns was the winning pitcher and is now 5-1. Junior pitcher Demi Laney took the loss and is now 1-2.

Junior outfielder Colleen Dougherty finished the day 3-for-5. She now has a pair of multiple-hit games this season.

Binghamton faces North Carolina at 11:30 a.m. EST on Sunday in the final day of the Arizona State/Wilson DeMarini Invitational. The Tar Heels are receiving votes in both major polls (NFCA and ESPN Top 25).

BRANDON MULLINS NAMED TO BIG EAST HONOR ROLL

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Syracuse men’s lacrosse sophomore defenseman Brandon Mullins (Coppell, Texas) was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll on Monday, March 4 for his performance in the Orange’s 9-8 overtime win against Virginia Friday night.

Mullins teamed with fellow close defender David Hamlin (New Hartford, N.Y.) to hold Virginia leading scorer Nick O’Reilly without a point. O’Reilly had been averaging 4.8 points per game prior to the contest. Mullins also recorded a caused turnover.

Jeff Fountain (Georgetown), Andrew Barton (Providence), Colin Keegan (St. John’s) and Thomas Croonquist (Villanova) joined Mullins on the honor roll.

Notre Dame’s Matt Kavanagh had six points, including four goals, in the Irish’s 10-9 triple-overtime win against North Carolina to earn BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week honors. Georgetown goalie Jack Haley was named the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week for his 17-save performance in the Hoyas’ 10-9 victory against Dartmouth.

Baseball splits final two games at VMI

LEXINGTON, Va.—Binghamton baseball completed an improbable comeback to win the opener 11-6 and then dropped the final game of the four-game series, 6-4 at VMI Sunday afternoon. The Bearcats (4-4) plated 10 runs in their final at-bat to seize game 1 but then surrendered a 3-0 lead in game 2 at Gray-Minor Stadium. The teams split the four-game weekend set.

In the opener, BU trailed 6-1 heading into the last frame of the seven-inning game before scoring 10 runs on seven hits. Binghamton registered four straight hits to open the inning and sent 15 men to the plate in all. Sophomore left fielder Jake Thomas, who is off to a torrid start to 2013, collected two hits and three RBI in the inning. Junior center fielder Bill Bereszniewicz had two hits in the inning and junior third baseman Brian Ruby and freshman shortstop David Schanz drove in runs during the rally, which was aided by three VMI errors.

Sophomore reliever Mike Kaufman ended the game with three straight strikeouts in the bottom of the inning, making a winner out of sophomore Jed Lemen, who worked a scoreless eighth.
For the game, Thomas went 2-for-3 with three RBI, Ruby went 2-for-5 with two RBI and Bereszniewicz went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Junior starter Jack Rogalla allowed four earned runs on six hits over five innings.
In game two, BU led 3-0 after scoring single runs in each of the second, fifth and sixth innings. But VMI rallied with three runs in the bottom of the sixth and after BU moved ahead 4-3 in the top of the seventh, the host Keydets added three more deciding runs in the bottom of the seventh.
Senior first baseman Jordon Smucker and sophomore catcher Nick Pancerella each went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Freshman DH jake Cryts went 2-for-4 and Thomas and sophomore right fielder Zach Blanden added an RBI apiece.

Junior Mike Meleski pitched five shutout innings but didn’t get a decision. Meleski struck out six and allowed just four hits.

In the four-game series, Thomas hit 7-of-13 (.538) and drove in seven runs. He has an on-base percentage of .600 through his first eight games of the spring.

Bearcats will face top-seeded Stony Brook in America East quarters Saturday night

BALTIMORE, Md. – Host UMBC (7-22, 5-11 AE) hit 12 three-pointers and eased past cold-shooting Binghamton (3-26, 1-15 AE) 59-49 in the regular-season finale for both teams Sunday afternoon at the RAC Arena. The Bearcats will now carry the No. 8 seed in an America East tournament quarterfinal game against regular-season champion and top-seeded Stony Brook. The game is set for 6 p.m. Saturday at Albany’s SEFCU Arena.

Senior guard Ryan Cook poured in a game-high 24 points and the Retrievers benefited from 20 turnovers and 34 percent Bearcats shooting.

Senior forward Taylor Johnston led BU with 16 points, 10 in the first half. Freshman guard Jordan Reed produced his league-leading 13th double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds and junior center Brian Freeman chipped in eight points, nine rebounds and three blocks.

“Overall we didn’t play very well,” head coach Tommy Dempsey said. “Give UMBC credit … they stepped up and made a lot of big shots, especially their seniors. Our energy in the zone was good but their top two shooters (Cook and Brian Neller) hit shots in crucial times. As a group, we made poor decisions against their zone and that caused a lot of turnovers.”

The Bearcats were within striking distance halfway through the second period. Reed made a pair of free throws with 10 minutes remaining to pull BU to within two, 42-40. But Neller (17 pts.) made two threes in a 1:15 span and the Retrievers outscored the Bearcats 17-9 to end the game.

In the first half, senior forward Taylor Johnston hit a pair of 3s and scored 10 points to pace BU’s offense. Johnston scored five points in a 19-second span to spark a 7-0 run that gave the Bearcats a 14-9 lead eight minutes into the contest. But after hitting 7-of-13 to start the game (54%), BU shot just 3-of-14 the rest of the half and 11 turnovers resulted in 12 UMBC points. The Retrievers hit a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer to cap an 8-2 run and take a 26-25 lead into intermission.
Binghamton begins its postseason run with a quarterfinal matchup against fellow SUNY Center Stony Brook Saturday at Albany’s SEFCU Arena. It will mark the second straight year that the two SUNY schools have met in the quarterfinals. Last season, BU shot 50 percent, drilled 10 three-pointers and led in the second half before the top-seeded Seawolves prevailed 78-69.

NOTES
Johnston and Cook were named the America East Players of the Game … Reed kept his conference-leading rebound average at 9.5 but dipped percentage points behind Maine’s Justin Edwards in the scoring race. Edwards netted 29 points in his game to move to 16.67 ppg. Reed’s average dropped to 16.66 ppg.

America East Championship
Saturday, March 9 - Quarterfinals
#2 Vermont vs. #7 New Hampshire, 12 p.m. (ESPN3/WatchESPN)
#3 Hartford vs. #6 UMBC, 2 p.m.* (ESPN3/WatchESPN)
#1 Stony Brook vs. #8 Binghamton, 6 p.m. (ESPN3/WatchESPN)
#4 Albany vs. #5 Maine, 8 p.m.* (ESPN3/WatchESPN)

Sunday, March 10 - Semifinals
Vermont-New Hampshire Winner vs. Hartford-UMBC Winner, 5 p.m. - (ESPN3/WatchESPN)
Stony Brook-Binghamton Winner vs. Albany-Maine winner, 7 p.m.* - (ESPN3/WatchESPN)

Saturday, March 16 - Title Game
Semifinal Winners, 11:30 a.m. - (ESPN2/WatchESPN)

*time approximate. Second game of session will begin 30 minutes following the conclusion of the prior game.