Rain Postpones America East Softball Championship

Rain and poor weather conditions have forced postponement of today's championship round of the America East Softball Tournament at the Bearcats Sports Complex.  The final round has been moved to Sunday with a scheduled start of 11 A.M.  The Albany Great Danes meet the UMass Lowell River Hawks for the championship and a berth in the NCAA playoffs.

UMass Lowell defeated Albany 5-2 on Friday to advance to the championship round.  The Great Danes came back later yesterday to eliminate Stony Brook with a 9-0 win to move to the title round.

During the regular season Albany swept three-games from the River Hawks to capture the America East title and earn the top-seed for the post-season championship tournament.  UMass Lowell is the second-seed.  After moving up from Division II this is the first season the River Hawks are eligible for America East  championship events.

Both teams are loaded with top players in the conference.  Albany and UMass Lowell each have three All-Conference performers. Albany's Celeste Verdolivo was named the America East Pitcher of the Year.  UMass Lowell's Kaysee Talcik was named as a First Team All-Conference pitcher and the River Hawks' Lovina Capria, another standout, was named Rookie of the Year in America East.

In the double-elimination format if Albany defeats UMass Lowell in the 11 A.M contest the two teams will play again at 1:30 for the deciding game.  If UMass Lowell wins in the 11 A.M. game the championship goes to the River Hawks.