May 21, 2001

Stony Brook, N.Y. - Under first-year head coach Megan Bryant, the Stony Brook softball team accomplished two major achievements for the first time in school history--the Seawolves won 21 games and advanced to the ECAC Championships. The softball team's 2001 season proved to be one of the most impressive turnarounds in Seawolves athletics.

Lucky 21: Stony Brook's 21 victories this season is the most ever in Seawolves softball history, bettering the previous high of 14 back in 1991. Not only that, first-year coach Megan Bryant recorded the best debut season by a Stony Brook softball coach, earning her Stony Brook Coach of the Year honors and the team the Quantum Leap award for biggest turnaround.

However, with two post-season losses in the ECAC Tournament, the Seawolves were denied their first .500 finish since the 14-10 slate in 1991. Stony Brook was 21-21 at the conclusion of the regular season, but finished 21-23 overall.

Postseason Play: Stony Brook received its first-ever berth in the ECAC Championships in May, recording the program's first Division I postseason appearance in just the second season at the D-1 level.

Strikeout Stephanie: Junior Stephanie Poetzsch had a very impressive year for the Seawolves this season. She followed up her transfer season in which she set new school marks in season and career strikeouts with another outstanding performance. In 2001, she bettered her marks in season (231) and career (348) K's to lead the Seawolves to 14 of their 21 victories. Her 8.9 strikeouts a game was 17th-best in the country at season's end, and she posted an ERA of 1.88 in 181.2 innings pitched.

During the course of the season, Poetzsch pitched two no-hitters, including a 2-0 win over Rider in which she struck out 15 batters, a new Stony Brook record. She also won more games in a season than any pitcher in Stony Brook history, and posted the highest number of season (six) and career (eight) shutouts.

Poetzsch's success this season earned her Stony Brook Female Athlete of the Year honors, along with team MVP accolades.

Lipareli's List: Before the 2001 season began, Tricia Lipareli already held several Stony Brook records--most doubles in a season, most putouts in a season and career, and most at-bats in both a season and career. Lipareli added to that list this season.

The senior set a new career record in singles with a total of 107, breaking the 17-year-old mark of 86 held by Lucille Giannuzzi. She also set a new career mark in hits with 157, which betters the old mark of 150 held by Lisa Repper. Not only that, Lipareli set new marks in most games played in a career (150), most stolen bases in a season (15) and equalled the mark for career doubles with 34.

Home Sweet Home: The Seawolves opened the season on a brand-new field, which they dedicated in a special pre-game ceremony on April 21 prior to a doubleheader with Albany. On hand for the ribbon-cutting were University President Shirley Strum Kenny, congressman Felix Grucci, Dean of P.E. and Athletics Richard Laskowski, Director of Athletics and former coach Sandy Weeden, business manager and former coach Judy Christ, head coach Megan Bryant and seniors Tory Menchise and Christie McMurray.

Stony Brook's first win on the new grounds came against Fairfield on April 3. Jen Milito hit the first shot out of the park against Rider, a 2-0 win on April 5.

Streaky Seawolves: Stony Brook's tendency this season was to follow a winning streak with a losing one. The Seawolves opened the year by winning eight of their first 10, but then SBU lost five of its next six. The Seawolves recorded their longest streak several games later, posting 10 wins in 11 outings. However, Stony Brook suffered a downhill slide to conclude the season, winning just one of their last 10 games.

A for Improvement: The key word for the 2001 season was turnaround. Last year, the Seawolves won only four games, scored 73 runs with 55 RBI, and committed 72 errors.

However, this season has been a much different story. En route to 21 wins, Stony Brook scored almost double the runs (139) with 121 RBI, and had only 55 errors.

2001 saw much improvement on the individual level as well. After hitting only .186 as a sophomore with 11 hits, Jen Milito rebounded this season. Milito started off the season on a hot streak but suffered a hitting slump toward the end, however, she still collected 29 hits, including her first collegiate homerun.

Stephanie Poetzsch was also much improved at the plate. Hitting only .187 last year, she was second on the team with a .299 average. Sam Foronjy, a .231 hitter last year, was the team-leader with a .324 average.