Abnet Shiferaw -TRW
Senior Amanda Fefel not only leads the softball team with two home runs, but she also has four saves and a 0.91 ERA in 7.2 innings of relief.
By By Zach Seidel
Senior Staff Writer
Abnet Shiferaw -TRW Senior Amanda Fefel not only leads the softball team with two home runs, but she also has four saves and a 0.91 ERA in 7.2 innings of relief. | |
So much for being gracious hosts. The UMBC softball team returned home this past weekend and swept four games to win the UMBC Retriever Classic. The victories extended UMBC's (7-1) win streak to seven, while also giving the team the best eight-game start in school history, and best start since the 1999 team started 6-2.
"It's amazing," said head coach Joe French. "Friday was our first day of [outdoor practice] on our field, and the fact that we are 7-1 [while only practicing] in the gym, you just can't figure."
UMBC rolled to a 10-2 (6 innings) win over Morgan State in the first game of the tourney, before edging Fairleigh Dickinson 6-5 and Brown 4-2 and then 6-5 in the title game. Senior Amanda Fefel earned saves in the last three contests.
Despite two weeks in between games, the Retrievers' bats were still hot going into the first game against Morgan State. After junior Malorie Weller's ground out scored junior Lauren Brummell in the first, UMBC exploded for six runs on six hits in the bottom of the second. Brummell and senior Jessica Vetock each got RBI singles and Fefel's three-run home run, the 32nd of her career, ballooned a 1-0 lead to 7-0. Sophomore Kaela Mason and freshman Ashley Scroggin would add RBIs in support of freshman Heather Brown. Brown earned her second victory of the season, pitching four innings of three-hit ball, and only allowing one run, while striking out seven.
"It came off [my bat] just perfect, I knew it was gone as soon as I hit it," said Fefel on her home run. "It was just good to get ahead and start the season off right."
A few hours later the Retrievers took on FDU and showed no signs of slowing down. UMBC scored the first two runs of the game when junior Lynn Pronobis was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and senior Emily Thompson scored on a wild pitch. Scroggin picked up an RBI when her bases loaded walk scored Weller.
The Knights then cut the lead to 3-2 in the sixth on a two-run double, but the Retrievers quickly responded. In the bottom half of the sixth Mason hit an RBI double and Brummell's two-RBI triple, her second of the day, extended the lead to 6-2.
FDU got back into the game after the wind took hold of a high fly ball, causing it to drop with two outs. Junior Stephanie Weigman was then taken out and Fefel came in and escaped the jam. After giving up a single that cut the lead to 6-5, she struck out the following batter to earn the save, a school record sixth of her career. Weigman pitched well, striking out eight and allowing two earned runs in 6.2 innings.
On Sunday the Retrievers played two tight contests against Brown, the second one in the title game.
Heather Brown (3-0) took the mound for the Retrievers in the first game against Brown University, but it was her bat that aided UMBC as her first career hit came on a home run that gave UMBC the lead for good at 3-2 in the fourth. The freshman allowed two runs on six hits and struck out four in five innings.
Senior Amanda Page and junior Julia Culotta had back-to-back RBI singles that gave the Retrievers a 2-1 first inning lead. Weller added an RBI single that scored Brummell in the fourth, and that proved to be more than enough insurance. Fefel came in and pitched two scoreless innings for her second consecutive save, and third of the season.
At the top of the seventh in the title game, with a full count, the bases loaded, and the Retrievers clinging to a 6-5 lead, Fefel struck out a batter and closed the door on the Bears yet again. The strikeout gave Fefel her third consecutive save, and fourth overall. The NCAA leader in saves last year had six for the entire season.
"I like [closing], it's not as stressful," said Fefel. "I like the pressure of coming in and knowing that I need to step it up to the next level to produce for the team."
Weigman (4-1) started for UMBC, allowing three runs on four hits, while striking out seven in six innings. Thompson's two-out, two-run double in the fifth turned out to make the difference as it extended the Retriever lead to 6-3. Culotta, Fefel, and Weller all chipped in with an RBI for UMBC.
The Retrievers will really get a test when they play double-headers at Delaware and at home against George Washington this week. Next weekend, UMBC will look to continue their torrid pace when they host the six-team Dawg Pound invitational.
Copyright: The Retriever Weekly