April 3, 2001
Today's Matchup: Stony Brook hopes to get back on the winning track today against Fairfield, but the Stags present a tough challenge. While Fairfield has already played 33 games, the Seawolves just began competition on March 18.
Series History: The two teams competed for the first time last season, with Fairfield sweeping Stony Brook by scores of 5-1 and 8-0.
Seawolves Earn Split With Yale:SBU split with Yale on Sunday afternoon, earning a 5-3 win in eight innings in game one to snap a five-game losing streak. The Seawolves fell to the Bulldogs in game two, losing 8-2. After falling behind 2-0, SBU staged a comeback in the sixth inning, scoring three runs. SBU held onto the narrow 3-2 lead until Yale scored in the bottom of the seventh to knot the game at 3-3 and force extra innings.
But the Seawolves responded in the eighth, as Tricia Lipareli drove in the game-winning run and Mary Shea Carpenter drove in another, and Stony Brook earned a 5-3 victory. Game two was a different story, as Yale raced to a 6-0 lead before the Seawolves countered with two runs in the sixth inning. But the Bulldogs added two more runs as they went on to win, 8-2, and improve to 10-12 on the year.
Shooting From the Lip: First baseman Trish Lipareli continues to prove just how valuable she has been to the Stony Brook softball program during her three years as a Seawolf. Entering the season, Lipareli was already the season record-holder in doubles, at-bats and put-outs, and the career record-holder in put-outs.
In just the Seawolves' sixth game, Lipareli became the all-time leader in singles when she went 4-for-4 at the plate, breaking the old mark of 86 which had stood for 17 years. Lipareli now has 96 singles for her career.
In the Seawolves' last outing at Yale, Lipareli set a new record for most at-bats in a career, breaking the old mark of 335 held by Lisa Repper.
The assault on the record books doesn't end there. Lipareli needs just 11 more hits and five doubles to set new career marks in each category.
Quick Start: After a dismal 4-31 finish in 2000, the Seawolves surpassed last season's win total in just the fifth game of the year, beating Augustana 1-0 at the Rebel Games in Florida. Not only that, it took last year's team 11 games before they notched a victory, while the 2001 edition won its season opener.
Stony Brook raced to a 7-3 start while at the Rebel Games, marking the best start since 1992 when Judy Christ opened the year 7-1.
Bryant's Beginning: First-year head coach Megan Bryant needs just three more victories to record the best debut season in Stony Brook history. Teri McNulty recorded an 11-12 mark in her first season with Stony Brook in 1995.
News and Notes: Centerfielder Jen Milito has already equalled last year's hit total of 11 . . . Stephanie Poetzsch needs only three more wins to equal the number of most victories ever in a season . . . third baseman Tory Menchise, who drove in five runs last season, is the team leader this year with 12 . . . second baseman Cass Broadwater, catcher Christie McMurray and Menchise hit their first career homeruns while at the Rebel Games.
