March 28, 2002

ON DECK: Stony Brook faces Albany Friday in the first-ever America East Conference doubleheader for both teams. Both teams became members of the conference this season. The Seawolves come off a split with Wagner on Wednesday, while Albany swept a three-game set with St. Francis (N.Y.) last weekend.

ON THE AIR: Friday's doubleheader will be broadcast on Stony Brook's website at www.goseawolves.org. The broadcast is the first of three softball doubleheaders that can be heard on the site. Stony Brook's April 7th date with Boston University and April 28th doubleheader with Maine are also scheduled to be aired on the web.

SERIES HISTORY:, Albany leads the all-time series 29-6 and has won 10 of the last 11 meetings. The two teams split in last year's meeting with the Seawolves winning the nightcap by a score of 6-2. The victory marked the first for SBU over the Great Danes since a 6-5 win in 1994. Albany won the first game, 3-2.

ABOUT THE GREAT DANES: Albany outscored St. Francis 12-0 last weekend to sweep the Peahens in three games. Senior shortstop Valerie Terry and sophomore Jess Kostenblatt are each hitting .310. Kostenblatt leads the team with 10 RBI and has ripped a team-high three homeruns. Senior pitcher Sarah Maida has made seven appearances so far this season, posting an ERA of just 0.85 to go 6-1. Maida has struck out 43 batters in 41.0 innings of work.

LAST TIME OUT: Against Wagner on Wednesday, the Seawolves jumped out to a 2-0 lead in both games, but the Seahawks came back to win game one by a score of 3-2. The Seawolves captured the nightcap by the same score in six innings. In game one, SBU got on the board quickly, thanks to a deep shot to left field by senior Shea Carpenter. The double sent Marissa Servello home for an early 1-0 lead in the third inning. Sophomore Amanda Staschuk led off the fourth inning by cranking a shot over the left field fence, the second straight game she has hit a homerun. Wagner (9-19) did not manage a hit until the fourth inning, but the Seahawks got their bats going in the fifth for four hits, including a base hit up the middle by Jen James that sent the tying run across the plate. Meanwhile, the Seawolves stranded six runners over the last three innings and could not manage to pull ahead. Wagner's Lauren Sanchez ended the game with a base hit to left field that scored the gamewinning run. Game two started in much the same fashion, as Stony Brook scored two runs on two Seahawks errors in the second inning for the early lead. Jen Milito extended the lead to 3-0 with an RBI single in the fourth inning. Wagner drew within 3-2 in the bottom of the inning, but the Seawolves held on for the win. The game was called after six innings due to darkness.

STONY BROOK RANKED THIRD IN PRESEASON POLL: Stony Brook was picked to finish third in the America East Conference preseason poll, the conference announced Wednesday. The voting was conducted by the conference's head coaches, who unanimously tabbed defending regular-season champion Boston University (49 points) to capture the league title once again this year. Maine was second with 38 votes, while Stony Brook finished one point ahead (29) of Hartford for third place. Vermont, Albany and Binghamton round out the preseason standings.

OH-MANDA: Sophomore Amanda Staschuk has been outstanding at the plate so far this season, already doubling her number of hits (8) from a season ago. The outfielder leads the Seawolves with a .395 average, and was 4-for-5 in the doubleheader with the Seahawks earlier this week. Staschuk has cracked two homeruns and a team-high five doubles while driving in eight runs.

HOLY MILITO: Senior Jen Milito came up big against the Seahawks on Wednesday, going a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with an RBI and a run scored. Her double in the fourth inning gave SBU a 3-0 lead. Milito has started 14 games and has recorded a .306 average so far this year.

PATCH ON THE MOUND: Senior pitcher Stephanie Poetzsch (6-5) allowed only three hits and two runs (one earned) in earning her sixth win of the season against Wagner on Wednesday. In the Seawolves' previous outing, an 18-4 win over Central Connecticut, Poetzsch struck out 10 batters while allowing just four hits. Poetzsch has made 12 appearances and has struck out 77 batters in 70.1 innings this season.

THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH: With seven newcomers on the roster, the Seawolves have relied on a young lineup en route to their seven wins. Five freshmen have started regularly so far this year. Jane Stein has proven to be a solid hitter with a .371 average and has also scored 10 runs. Stephanie DiBiase, who has recently been starting in the leadoff position, has an on-base percentage of .435 while hitting .333 and scoring a team-high 11 runs.

CARPENTER BUILDS MOMENTUM: Senior catcher Shea Carpenter has been a big-time slugger for Stony Brook in its first 15 games. Carpenter, who is hitting .361 at the plate, has collected a team-high 12 RBI. The senior broke out last weekend at the Delaware State Tournament, going 7-for-15 with five RBI. Against Central Connecticut on Tuesday, the slugger cranked a grand-slam homerun to break the game open, as the Seawolves went on to win, 18-4. Not only has Carpenter been a great hitter, she has been solid behind the plate as well, committing no errors in 69 attempts.

ROUTING THE BLUE DEVILS: The Seawolves recorded their most-lopsided victory at the Division I level with Tuesday's 18-4 shellacking of Central Connecticut. Stony Brook jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead, but it was a seven-run seventh inning that did CCSU in. Amanda Staschuk collected two hits and two RBI and hit her first homerun of the season. Jane Stein had a hit, an RBI and three runs scored, and Stephanie DiBiase scored four runs.

EYE ON THE RECORD BOOKS: Wednesday's start against Wagner gave Stephanie Poetzsch 53 in her career, a new Stony Brook record . . . Poetzsch needs eight more wins to tie the career record of 31 . . . she also needs to pitch just 16.1 more innings to break the record for most innings pitched in a career (386.0) . . . her 71 strikeouts so far this season is fourth for most in a season . . . Poetzsch's 58 career appearances is third all-time.