MAINE vs. ALBANY

Time, site: Saturday (2), noon, Sunday, noon; Kessock Field, Orono

Records: Albany 24-13 (7-7 America East), Maine 21-23 (6-8)

Last meeting: Albany 5-1 on 4/5/06

Top hitters – Albany: 2B Michelle Connors (.380, 7 HR, 24 RBI, 10 SB), LF Amber Maisonet (.374, 13 RBI, 16 SB), 3B Kelly Ogden (.328, 9 HR, 33 RBI), CF Nicole Kothe (.301, 11 RBIs); Maine: CF Alexis Souhlaris (.377, 21 RBI, 26 SB); 2B Ashley Waters (.352, 22 RBI), DH Whitney Spangler (.328, 16 RBI, 8 SB), 1B Kristie Hawkins (.310, 20 RBI), CF Tara Vilardo (.265, 9 RBI, 8 SB)

Pitching Matchups

Albany Great Danes Maine Black Bears

ERA W-L Ks ERA W-L Ks

RH Casey Halloran 2.18 13-8 111 RHP Jessica Ghazali 3.27 803 27

RH Leah McIntosh 3.54 7-4 107 RHP Christine McGivney 4.13 6-9 57

Outlook: Maine, which sits in sixth place in the America East standings, likely needs a series win to stay alive in the race for the four-team conference tournament. Albany, the defending AE champ, is in fifth place. 2006 league pitcher of the year and conference tourney MVP Halloran hasn’t been as dominating this season but opponents have batted only .216 against the reigning AE co-Pitcher of the Week. In addition to her power, Connors is among the league leaders in sacrifice flies and hit-by-pitches with a .496 on-base percentage.