The Bates College softball team celebrates an 8-1 NESCAC East Division victory against rival Bowdoin.

Bates first-year catcher Leah Maciejewski (Tewksbury, Mass.) capped a terrific game in dramatic fashion Saturday against Trinity, doubling down the left-field line to score Karen Ullmann with the game-winning run in the 11th inning for a 9-8 Bates victory. The win clinched second place in the NESCAC East Division and the Bobcats’ first berth in the four-team field of the NESCAC Softball Championship, in the tournament’s ninth year of existence.

The double made Maciejewski 3-for-6 on the day with two doubles, two runs scored and three RBIs. She also singled and scored in the seventh inning, when Bates came back from an 8-5 deficit to tie the game at 8-8 and send the game into extra innings.

Maciejewski finished the weekend leading the Bobcats in batting average at .356 and in runs scored at 12.

Bates first-year 3B Monica Berube (Plainstow, N.H.) carried the Bobcat softball team’s offense during a key 3-1 week, going .400 at the plate (4-for-10) with a double, two home runs, three walks, four runs batted in and two runs scored.

Berube was the only team member to hit above .200 for the week, and she did it at the most opportune time, as Bates defeated Colby last week to sweep the Mules for the first time since 2001, then went 2-1 in a weekend series against Bowdoin to claim the CBB title with an overall 5-1 record against the two in-state conference rivals.

Berube raised her batting average on the season to .275, and she ranks third on the team in slugging at .475. She also sports a spotless fielding percentage of 1.000 thus far.

Bates College senior Stacia Saniuk (Sharon, Mass.) batted .778 (7-for-9) and posted a 1.444 slugging percentage along with a .867 on-base percentage during a 3-1 week for the Bobcat softball team. She hit two home runs, recorded six walks, had four RBI and four runs scored. Saniuk hit her 20th career homer on Sunday against UMaine-Farmington, extending her program-record mark. She has currently reached base in six straight plate appearances. On Saturday, her two-run homer in the sixth inning lifted Bates to a 6-4 win over NESCAC East rival Colby.

Saniuk, who plays third base and designated player, also earned NESCAC Softball Player of the Week honors, the New England Small College Athletic Conference announced on Monday. It’s the first time a Bobcat has earned NESCAC Softball Player of the Week honors since Saniuk did it on March 19, 2007.

A three-time NESCAC All-Conference player, Saniuk also owns Bates’ career records for extra-base hits (42) and total bases (193) in addition to the homers record. With 108 career base hits, she is currently two away from tying the Bates career record of 110 held by Krissie Whiting ’03.

Stacia Saniuk '09

Bates College junior Stacia Saniuk finished her junior season already atop the Bates softball career lists for home runs, extra-base hits and total bases, and this week she was named to the NESCAC Softball All-Conference First Team.

It is the third All-NESCAC award in as many years for Saniuk (Sharon, Mass.), who was a Second Team honoree in both 2007 and 2006. She was voted NESCAC Rookie of the Year in 2006. [More...]