March 19, 2002
ON DECK: Stony Brook hits the road for its first doubleheader of the season as the Seawolves face Long Island rival Hofstra on Wednesday. The Seawolves hope to snap a three-game losing streak, while the Pride (7-14) come off a 10-1 five-inning victory over Wagner on Sunday at the Hofstra Invitational.
SERIES HISTORY: The Pride lead the all-time series 6-1, but the two teams have not met since 1981. The Seawolves recorded their only victory in the series in that game, winning 18-11.
ABOUT THE PRIDE: Hofstra dropped its first 10 games, but the Pride have won seven of their last 11 contests including a 10-1 five-inning win over Wagner on Sunday. In that game, freshman pitcher Stefanie Kenney went 3-for-3, including two doubles, and drove in four runs. Kenney also picked up the win on the mound, pitching all five innings and giving up four hits while walking two and striking out two. Kenney was named the Colonial Athletic Association Pitcher of the Week after going 3-1 with a 1.08 earned run average in four starts for the Pride last week. Freshman Hailey Clark leads Hofstra at the plate with a .316 average. In 57 at-bats, she has recorded 18 hits including two doubles and a homerun. Her seven RBI is second on the team to Kenney's 10.
LAST TIME OUT: The Seawolves went 0-3 at the Virginia Tech Hokies Classic last weekend, with games against St. Bonaventure and Akron cancelled due to rain. Saturday's games started three hours late because of the weather, while Sunday's games were all cancelled. Canisius topped SBU 5-1 in the Seawolves' opener, while the host Hokies handed Stony Brook a 4-0 setback. On Saturday, the Seawolves battled back from a 3-0 deficit against Hartford, but the Hawks captured the win with an RBI double in the bottom of the seventh inning.
MAKING A COMEBACK: After falling behind 3-0 against the Hawks, the Seawolves tallied three runs in the fifth inning to even the game and give Hartford a scare. Pitcher Stephanie Poetzsch entered the game for Lindsey DeLaRosa in the third inning and struck out seven batters over the next three and two-thirds innings to keep the Hawks scoreless. Meanwhile, the Seawolves offense came alive. Four Seawolves hits in the fifth inning led to three SBU runs to tie the score. Stephanie DiBiase's double led off the inning, and Colleen McCarthy's RBI single brought DiBiase home to bring the Seawolves within 3-1. Marissa Servello's RBI single drove in Jen Milito, who reached on a walk, and McCarthy reached home on an error by Hawks first baseman Lindsey Bininger to even the game at 3-3. The hits kept coming in the top of the seventh as McCarthy blasted a double to left field with two outs. However, the Seawolves could not manage to bring her home. Hartford's Liz Borawski blasted a shot to left field with two outs in the bottom of the seventh that drove in the winning run and gave the Hawks their first win of the year. McCarthy led SBU at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
THE BAT OF BRUST: Freshman Kristen Brust hit her first collegiate homerun last weekend at the Virginia Tech Hokies Classic. Brust's dinger against Canisius was the Seawolves' only run in the first game of the tournament, a 5-1 setback to the Golden Griffins. The freshman was also solid against Hartford, going 2-for-3 at the plate. Brust has started all seven games so far this season, hitting .318 in a team-high 22 at-bats.
SERVELLO SERVES UP HITS: Freshman Marissa Servello continued her impressive play last weekend, collecting three hits including a double. Servello had her best game against Hartford, going 2-for-4 at the plate with an RBI.
STEIN SHINES: Freshman Jane Stein collected two of the Seawolves' four hits against the Hokies last weekend, including her second double of the year. Stein's .385 batting average is fourth-best on the team.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Seawolves will compete in their final tournament of the season this weekend when they head to Delaware State. Stony Brook faces James Madison and Lehigh on Friday, and the Seawolves will square off against Radford and Bucknell on Saturday.
