WATCH: Practice Day Press Conference

Stillwater, OK -- The four-time defending America East champion UMBC Softball team opens NCAA play at No.6 Oklahoma State on Friday at 4 p.m. EST on ESPN+. The double elimination regional also features Wichita State and Nebraska

UMBC enters play fresh off winning its fourth-straight America East title. 

Team Notes

• UMBC is just the second program in America East Conference history to win four consecutive championships, joining Hofstra, which won four straight from 1998-2001.
• The Retrievers have won 13 consecutive America East Tournament contests.
• Retriever Softball now owns the second-longest streak of conference titles in UMBC program history with four and the longest for a women's program... UMBC men's Swimming & Diving won 8 straight titles (2004-11). 
• UMBC had gone 51 consecutive innings without allowing a run in America East Tournament play before UAlbany scored in the fourth inning of the championship game.
• The Retrievers have won at least 25 games for the fourth consecutive year. They had only won 25 in two of the previous seven seasons.

Courtney Coppersmith Notes

• Courtney Coppersmith is the all-time program leader in strikeouts (1,019) and shutouts (34).
• On Wednesday she was named to the NFCA All-Region First Team for the second time in her career.
• She also has been named to the Second Team twice in her career
• Coppersmith has moved into second place on the all-time wins list with 62, two behind program leader Stephanie Weigman (64, 2008-11)
• Coppersmith has tied Jessica Holte (2014-17) in all-time innings pitched with 624.1.
• Her 68 complete games are tied for third place in school history.
• is the first player in America East history to be named Pitcher of the Year four times. She was first team all conference as a pitcher four times, and second team all-conference as a DP/OF twice. Two-time academic all-american and America East Woman of the Year. 2019 All-American Honorable Mention.
  She has 10 no-hitters, including three perfect games. One of her perfect games was a 20 strikeout performance in a seven inning win over Brown.
   
  Courtney Coppersmith in conference play
                          IP         W         L          SVS       ER        BB        K          ERA      H/AB    BATTING AVG. 
  2023                 52        5          1          5          5          8          85        0.67*    22/173             .127    
  2022                 60.1     5          3          5          3          8          111      0.35*    21/201             .104
  2021                 74        9          1          1          7          14        123      0.66*    26/239             .109
  2019                 89        6          6          1          27        24        127      2.12     49/310             .158
  Totals               275.1    25        11        12        42        54        446      1.07     118/923           .125
  *ranked No. 1

Her America East Tournament Career: 12-0 (11 GS), she allowed just six earned runs in 80 innings (0.53 ERA) and struck out 116. She threw two no-hitters and also had a 33.1 inning scoreless streak in America East Tournament play that was snapped in the fourth inning of the championship game. 

Team National Rankings (2023)
ERA                                          2.30 (33rd)
K/BB Ratio                                2.68 (44th)
Home Runs/Game                     0.80 (70th)
 
Individual National Rankings (2023)
Hits Allowed/7 inns.                  4.11 (20th)                    Courtney Coppersmith
Saves                                        5 (18th)                        Courtney Coppersmith
K/BB Ratio                                7.0 (9th)                       Courtney Coppersmith
K/7 inns.                                   10.5 (7th)                     Courtney Coppersmith

 
Other Player Notes – Stock Rising

• Madison Wilson's eight home runs are tied for the sixth-most by a UMBC senior/fifth-year player and the most since Julia Culotta hit nine in 2011.
• Wilson's slash line in 2022 - .205/.295/.359; in 2023 .337/.396/.614. She played in 38 games in both seasons (2023 to date).
• Shanel Stott's slash line in 2022 - .200/.210/.250; in 2023, .320/.316/.361.
• Macy Granzow's slash line in 2022 – .229/.250/.339; in 2023, .302/.396/.417

Miscellaneous 

• UMBC has never faced Nebraska, Oklahoma State or Wichita State.

About the Opponents:

Nebraska Cornhuskers (34-20, 13-10 Big Ten)
·       Big Ten Tournament (L, 8-0, vs. Northwestern, semi-finals)
·       Last Ten Games: 3-7
·       26th NCAA Tournament appearance
·       Key National Rankings: Batting Average (.307, 33rd), Doubles (84, 16th)   
·       Top players: Katelyn Caneda (.373/.481/.903) , Fr., 2B, First Team All-Big Ten; Brooke Andrews (.331/.617/.998, 11 HR), Jr., OF, First Team All-Big Ten, Billie Andrews (.356/.678./1.114 15 HR) , Jr. SS, First Team All –Big Ten, Courtney Wallace (23 wins, 11th nationally), Sr., RHP
 
Oklahoma State Cowgirls (41-14, 10-8, Big 12)
·       Big 12 Championship (L, 8-7 vs. Kansas, First round)
·       Last Ten Games: 2-8
·       26th NCAA Tournament appearance
·       Key National Rankings: Doubles (95, 4th), Batting Average (.324, 9th), Shutouts (19, 7th)
·       Top players: Rachel Becker (.457 BA– 7th nationally, 20 doubles, 2nd nationally) , Grad, IF, First Team All Big 12; Kelly Maxwell (11.3 K's/7 – 2nd nationally, ) , RS-Senior, LHP
 
Wichita State Shockers (43-10, 16-2, American Athletic Conf.)
·       AACC Championship (L, 2-1 vs. Tulsa, semi-finals)
·       Last Ten Games: 7-3
·       7th NCAA Tournament appearance
·       Key National Rankings: Fielding Percentage (.982, 3rd), Slugging Percentage (.555, 6th), Scoring (6.22 runs/game,  8th)
Top Players: Sydney McKinney (.519 BA, 97 hits – 1st nationally), Sr., IF, AAC Player of the Year; Lauren Lucas (59 RBI's, 9th nationally, 7 triples, T4 nationally), Jr., IF, First Team All AAC