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Stony Brook, N.Y. -- Madison Wilson (Abingdon, Md.) homered, Sierra Pierce (Youngstown, Ohio) had a big RBI single and Courtney Coppersmith (York, Pa.) went seven innings in the circle as the UMBC Softball team clinched its first ever America East Regular Season title with a 4-1 win at Stony Brook on Saturday afternoon.

The win gave UMBC its first regular season conference title since winning the NEC in 2003. 

"I'm so proud of this team, and the grit and determination they have," said head coach Chris Kuhlmeyer. "They have a never say die attitude, and you saw that on Saturday. They used that grit to create a great moment for this program. Winning the regular season title and getting the chance to host the conference tournament is a huge accomplishment, but we have a lot of work still left to do to defend our conference tournament championship." 

Maddie Daigneau (New River, Ariz.) had two hits and became the UMBC all-time leader in triples when she slapped the 16th three-bager of her career to leadoff the sixth.

UMBC (22-11, 11-5 AE) used its speed to take an early lead in the second inning. Wilson was hit by a pitch to leadoff the inning, and then Jaedyn McKeon (Stewartstown, Pa.) came on to pinch-run. Casey Turner (Baltimore, Md.) then laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt and was barely thrown out at first, but McKeon never stopped at second and attempted to take third. The throw from first to third got away and McKeon scored. 

The score remained 1-0 until the fourth when Wilson blasted a one-out solo shot over the wall in center. Stony Brook (25-14, 10-6 AE) got a leadoff walk and stole second in the bottom half of the inning, but Coppersmith got a fly out and a pair of strikeouts to end the threat.

Daigneau's record-breaking triple leadoff the sixth and pierce poked a one-out, two-strike pitch, through the right side to make it 3-0. Wilson then beat out a double-play ball to keep the inning alive and pinch-runner Macy Granzow (Glenn Dale, Md.) moved to second on a Turner walk. Shanel Stott (Cumberland, Md.) then hit a grounder to second, but the second baseman hesitated on the toss to second and Turner was called safe. Granzow took advantage of the confusion and raced home to make it 4-0.

The Seawolves got a leadoff solo homer in the bottom of the sixth, but Coppersmith kept them off the board the rest of the way to lock down the victory. 

Coppersmith improved to 16-2 with the victory, going all seven innings, striking out seven, walking three and allowing just two hits. Daigneau was the only Retriever with multiple hits, while Karly Keating (Orlando, Fla.) stole a base. 

UMBC will now host the America East Tournament beginning on Thursday at The Diamond at UMBC. The four-team tournament is double-elimination and will also feature Stony Brook, UAlbany and UMass Lowell.