April 19, 2002

ON DECK: The Seawolves (18-21) hope to extend their four-game winning streak against non-conference foe Marist in a doubleheader on Sunday. Stony Brook is 13-12 in non-conference games this year.

SERIES HISTORY: The Red Foxes lead the all-time series 6-2, but the two teams split last year. Stony Brook won 4-3 and lost 5-0.

ABOUT THE RED FOXES: Marist (8-21-1) has dropped five straight, including a sweep by Lehigh in a doubleheader on Wednesday. The Red Foxes jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first game, but the Mountainhawks countered with four runs on six hits in the bottom of the inning on the way to an 7-2 win. Lehigh collected 11 hits in the game compared to just three for Marist. In game two, Marist had eight hits but managed just one run on a wild pitch in the fourth inning, losing 4-1. Kathleen McEvily leads the Red Foxes with a .287 average and 27 hits. Nichole Rawson has collected 21 RBI on the year and is batting .280. Rawson has also been solid on the mound, making 14 appearances with a 5-5 record. She has an ERA of 3.16 in 77.0 innings, walking just seven batters with 51 strikeouts.

PATCHING UP WINS: A win today for pitcher Stephanie Poetzsch will set yet another milestone for the senior, who already owns six Stony Brook career records. Poetzsch has 31 wins in her three-year career, which equals the career record currently held by Rosemarie Molinelli. Molinelli won 31 games from 1986-89. Not only that, a win today would give Poetzsch 15 on the season, which would break her own single-season record of 14 set last year.

LAST TIME OUT: Stony Brook limited Sacred Heart (15-24) to just six hits on the afternoon as the Seawolves earned two 2-0 victories for a sweep on Thursday. Game one remained scoreless until the bottom of the seventh, when Kristen Brust led off the inning by crushing a double to right center field. She was sacrificed to third by Amanda Staschuk. Jane Stein followed with her fourth homerun of the year to give the Seawolves the 2-0 victory. Both teams combined for just five hits in the second game, but the Seawolves capitalized on some glaring errors by the Pioneers to pull ahead in the fourth inning. Stephanie DiBiase led off the bottom of the inning with a double to right center field, and she advanced to third on Colleen McCarthy's groundout. Brust followed with a shot to right field that fell out of the glove of Pioneer Erin Caveney. With Brust safe at first, Caveney compounded the error by misfiring a throw to home plate, and DiBiase scored an unearned run for the 1-0 lead. Shea Carpenter extended the lead to 2-0 with a two-out solo homerun in the fifth, her second dinger of the year, and the Seawolves held Sacred Heart at bay to earn their third shutout win in four outings.

PATCH, LD LEAD THE WAY: The Seawolves used solid pitching by both Stephanie Poetzsch and Lindsey DeLaRosa to earn their second straight sweep this week over Sacred Heart. Poetzsch (14-11) allowed just four hits, no runs and no walks while striking out 12 in game one to earn the complete-game shutout. In game two, Lindsey DeLaRosa (4-10) earned a complete-game two-hitter, allowing no runs and no walks with two strikeouts.

HOT HOT HOT: Along with this week's 90-degree weather, the Seawolves' bats have also been heating up. In the past four games, the Seawolves have hit .297 compared to just .167 for their opponents. The Seawolves have 23 hits in the previous four games, including 15 in Wednesday's games against Hartford.

J-MONEY PAYS OFF: Jane Stein has led the way with seven hits in 13 at-bats (.538) in addition to seven RBI in the Seawolves' last four wins. Stein had two of the Seawolves' four hits in game one against Sacred Heart, including a two-run dinger, her fourth of the year. She was equally impressive in Wednesday's weep of Hartford with a stellar 4-for-5 outing with four RBI and two runs scored.

NO RUNS ALLOWED: The Seawolves' opponents have had a tough time lately putting runs on the board, with Stony Brook earning a shutout in three of its last four outings. A 5-4 extra-inning win over Hartford is the only game in the last four in which the Seawolves have given up a run. Stephanie Poetzsch has earned two of those shutouts, giving her six on the seasno which equals her own single-season record. Poetzsch also holds the career record with 14 shutouts.

HOMER WATCH: Both Jane Stein and Shea Carpenter had homeruns in Thursday's wins to bring the Seawolves' season total to19. Stein's dinger gives her four on the year, a team-high along with Stephanie DiBiase and Kristen Brust. The single-season Stony Brook record for homeruns is five, which is well in danger with this year's hard-hitting Seawolves.

EYE ON THE RECORD BOOKS: Stephanie Poetzsch has 204 strikeouts on the year and needs just 28 K's to break her own single-season record of 231 . . . Lindsey DeLaRosa's 125 career strikeouts rank third all-time . . . DeLaRosa also has seven career shutouts . . . Kristen Brust's 11 doubles this season rank third.