Softball Closes Out Regular Season At Kent State
5/2/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo softball team concludes the regular season this weekend at Kent State as they continue to prepare for next week's Mid-American Conference Tournament. The Golden Flashes will become just the third team from the MAC East that the Bulls will meet this year with games slated for Saturday and Sunday.
The Bulls enter the weekend with a 25-20 record and a 9-5 mark in Mid-American Conference play, currently sitting in a third place tie with Akron in the overall MAC Standing. While the Bulls have been assured a spot in the Championships, their final seeding will not be known until games have been completed on Sunday afternoon. UB is currently enjoying its best season in the Division I ranks under first-year head coach Trena Peel. The 25 wins tie a program record, while offensively, UB has already set school records for Doubles, Triples, HRs, Runs Scored and RBI's.
UB swept the MAC East Player of the Week awards this past week as senior Sammi Gallardo continues to lead the team offensively. She is batting .336 on the year, while hitting a single-season record 15 home runs and driving in 36 runs in 2014. Fellow senior Holly Luciano leads the team in batting average at .356, while driving in 31 runs.
In the circle, senior Tori Speckman continues to lead the way and she was MAC East Co-Pitcher of the Week this past Monday. Speckman has a 2.30 ERA on the year and a 17-11 record. She currently holds the single-season and career wins records and she has struck out 194 on the year and she is just shy of 500 strikeouts in her career.
Kent State enters the weekend with a 24-16 record and a 10-4 mark in the Mid-American Conference. Enterting this final weekend, the Bulls and Golden Flashes join Akron and Ohio as teams all fighting for the best record in the MAC East. Kent State has a pair of hitters batting .297, led by Maddy Grimm, who has driven in 41 runs and hit 13 home runs on the year.
Emma Johnson leads the team in the circle with a .200 ERA and a 14-8 record. She has struck out 150 batters in 129.2 innings of work. Both her and Speckman have thrown no hitters this season.
Action between the two teams begin on Saturday at 2pm with the series coming to a close on Sunday at 1pm.
