College softball

MAINE vs. ALBANY

Time, site: Saturday (2), 1 p.m., Sunday, noon; at Albany, N.Y.

Records: Maine 5-31 (5-3 America East); Albany 17-11 (5-1)

Last meeting: Maine 8-7 on 4/29/07

Top hitters: Maine – 2B Ashley Waters (.339, 7 HRs, 18 RBIs), C Whitney Spangler (.280, 2HRs, 17 RBIs, 5 SBs), 3B Terren Hall (.279, 6 HRs, 20 RBIs), SS Kristen Calvetti (.276, 2 HRs, 14 RBIs), CF Alexis Souhlaris (.275, 5 HRs, 12 RBIs, 9 SBs); Albany – Amber Maisonet (.353, 3 HRs, 11 RBIs, 14 SBs), Meagan Butsch (.346, 4 HRs, 16 RBIs), Michelle Connors (.282, 3 HRs, 15 RBIs, 6 SBs), Andrianna Walraven (.203, 2 HRs, 15 RBIs, 9 SBs)

Pitching Matchups

Albany Great Danes Maine Black Bears

ERA W-L Ks ERA W-L Ks

RH Leah McIntosh 2.12 10-3 124 RH Jenna Balent 3.80 3-11 50

RH Marissa Powell 3.27 5-7 40 RH Alexis Souhlaris 4.82 1-8 12

RH Brittany Rose 3.59 2-1 25 RH Cayleigh Montano 4.93 1-6 25

RH Christine McGivney 6.56 0-6 20

Outlook: The Black Bears must regroup after being swept by Boston University in a doubleheader duel between teams previously tied for first in the league. They face another stiff challenge in the Danes, who feature a balanced offensive attack with 18 homers and 40 stolen bases. Albany is averaging 3.8 runs per game to Maine’s 3.1, but the Bears are scoring 6.3 a game in their last eight. Maine will need better efforts on the mound than it got vs. BU to maintain its position near the top of the AE heap.