March 21, 2002
ON DECK: After Wednesday's doubleheader with Hofstra was canceled due to rain, the Seawolves look to this weekend to compete at the Delaware State Invitational. The Seawolves hope to snap a three-game losing streak at the tournament, which also includes James Madison, Delaware State, Bucknell, Radford and Lehigh.
SERIES HISTORY: Lehigh and Radford are the only teams that Stony Brook has previously faced. The Mountainhawks defeated SBU 5-0 in 2000, while SBU defeated Radford earlier this year, 7-0, at the UNC-Charlotte 49ers Invitational.
ABOUT THE TOURNAMENT FIELD: James Madison is 10-7 on the season and comes off a 5-4 loss to Binghamton on March 16. Freshman Ashlee Schenk leads the Bulldogs with a .426 batting average. Schenk has started all 17 games for JMU and has a team-high 20 hits with 12 RBI. Sophomore Kara Schwind has collected 16 hits with a team-high 13 RBI. On the mound, freshman Nikki Dunn is 5-1 with an ERA of just 0.97. She has recorded 28 strikeouts and just five walks in five complete games and nine appearances overall.
Lehigh is 6-6 on the year but the Mountainhawks have won six of their last seven games, including a sweep of Fairfield in their last outing on March 16. Sophomore Shana Treon has recorded a team-high batting average of .413, starting all 12 games. Senior Chris Duncan has also been outstanding at the plate, batting .400 in 35 at-bats. Sophomore Danielle Resovich and junior Jenny Bender have each recorded 2-1 records on the mound. Bender has pitched the most innings, giving up 29 hits in 31.1 innings. She has allowed just four earned runs for an ERA of .89.
The Bucknell Bison are 3-7 and come off an 8-4 setback to Butler on March 15. Senior Kelly Dugan leads the way with a .348 batting average in 23 at-bats. On the mound, junior Lauren Box has pitched three complete games for the Bison, giving up 12 earned runs in 25.0 innings (3.36 ERA).
Radford (6-20) has won two games in its last 12 outings, splitting with Campbell in a doubleheader on March 20. Junior Payton Nash has an average of .384 at the plate, belting 28 hits and driving in 15 runs in 73 at-bats. Freshman Ashley Smith, who also has 28 hits and 15 RBI to her credit, isn't far behind with a .378 average. On the mound, senior Brandy Winstead has pitched 55.2 innings to lead the way for Radford, recording an ERA of 5.16 while striking out 45 and walking nine.
Host Delaware State is 4-12, dropping its last three games including an 8-2 loss to St. Francis on March 16. Freshman Jill French has connected 17 times at the plate in 44 at-bats for a team-high .386 average. Sophomore Jaleah Brown has driven in a team-high 15 runs and has an average of .300. On the mound, sophomore Christine Cariello has seen the most action, giving up 29 earned runs in 51.1 innings (3.95 ERA) in six complete games.
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.
SPLISH SPLASH: Stony Brook's most troublesome opponent lately hasn't come on the mound, instead, Mother Nature has wreaked havoc with the Seawolves. Last weekend, two of Stony Brook's games at the Hokies Classic at Virginia Tech were rained out. Then on Wednesday, the Seawolves' first doubleheader of the year against Hofstra was also postponed because of rain. That matchup has been rescheduled for April 30 at 3:30 p.m.
MAKING A COMEBACK: After falling behind 3-0 against the Hawks last weekend, 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: After this weekend, the Seawolves travel to face Central Connecticut on Tuesday and Wagner on Wednesday (both doubleheaders). Stony Brook hosts Albany in its home opener and its first America East Conference games on Friday, March 29, in a doubleheader that begins at 2 p.m., then squares off against the Great Danes in another doubleheader the next day at noon.
