University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn Set to Play Final Games of Season Against Pittsburgh
5/6/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
STORRS, CT (May 6) - Senior Maggie Arbogast will be honored in the Hartford Courant/CareerBuilder.com Senior Salute as the University of Connecticut softball team plays their final games on Sunday, May 9 against Pittsburgh. The doubleheader is set for 11:00 a.m. at the UConn Softball Field.
Each team will be looking to close out the season on a high note, as neither has a chance to qualify for the four-team BIG EAST Tournament. The Huskies are currently 23-23 overall and 6-12 in the conference, while Pittsburgh is 21-34 for the season and 3-13 in the BIG EAST.
As the lone senior on the 2003-04 UConn team, Arbogast has proven to be a strong and consistent force for the Huskies in her four years with the program. As a freshman, Arbogast was a member of UConn’s eighth NCAA Tournament participating team and seventh BIG EAST Conference Tournament Champion squad. She played in 27 games that year, and hit a game-winning two RBI single in one of UConn’s biggest comebacks in its BIG EAST Tournament history against Villanova.
Arbogast played and started in all 49 games as a sophomore, leading the team with 396 putouts, and recording 22 hits, two doubles and seven RBI. In her junior year, Arbogast proved her worth to the team with a .407 batting average in BIG EAST games. She started all 48 games at first base, and hit a team-high six home runs. She was named a BIG EAST Player of the Week on April 28, 2003, and was named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team at the conclusion of the season.
Now in her final season at UConn, Arbogast leads the team in nearly every category. She has started in all 46 games at first base, and her batting average of .340 ranks first on the team, as do her 50 hits and 24 RBI. She has also served as team co-captain this season.
The Huskies have fallen short of their goals this year, but have still experienced a good measure of success with a young squad. The team struggled early on against top competition in Florida, but rebounded to win nine straight games and capture a hard-earned Co-Champion title at the Buzz Classic in Marietta, Ga. in March.
The BIG EAST season was up and down for UConn, but included a sweep of St. John's and splits with Virginia Tech, Rutgers, Syracuse and Villanova. A few tough sweeps at the hands of Notre Dame, Seton Hall and Providence hurt UConn's chances of post-season play, and even if the Huskies sweep Pittsburgh on Sunday, they can only be within one game of the fourth-place team in the BIG EAST.
