April 28, 2002

ON DECK: The Seawolves split with Maine on Saturday and had Sunday's home finale postponed due to bad weather conditions. Monday's doubleheader marks the final home games for four Stony Brook seniors--Shea Carpenter, Jen Milito, Lisa Notaro and Stephanie Poetzsch.

SERIES HISTORY: The two teams met for the first time on Saturday and are now 1-1 in the all-time series.

ON THE AIR: Today's doubleheader with Maine will be broadcast on the Stony Brook athletics website at www.goseawolves.org.

SENIOR FAREWELL: Four Seawolf seniors will play at University Field today for the final time in a Stony Brook softball uniform.

OH SHEA CAN YOU SEE: Carpenter, a transfer from St. John's, has been a consistent contributor throughout her two seasons as both a catcher and designated player. This season she has been one of SBU's biggest hitters and leads the team in RBI.

HOLY MILITO: Milito has spent four years with Stony Brook and has helped the Seawolves make the transition to the Division I level. She was named Most Improved in 2001.

NOTEWORTHY NOTARO: Notaro is also a four-year letterwinner who missed all of last season with a shoulder injury. But she returned this year and has been clutch as of late, hitting her first career homerun last week against Marist and crushing a two-run shot that helped Stony Brook to a 3-0 win over Maine on Saturday.

PATCHWORK OF RECORDS: In just three seasons with the Seawolves, Poetzsch has rewritten the Stony Brook softball record books. She holds seven single-season records and career records, including most strikeouts and most wins. She was named team MVP and the Stony Brook Female Athlete of the Year last season.

LAST TIME OUT: Stony Brook split with Maine on Saturday afternoon, winning game one 3-0 and losing 1-0 in game two. After five scoreless innings in game one, the Seawolves got on the board in the bottom of the sixth when Amanda Staschuk's RBI double scored Colleen McCarthy. Two batters later, Lisa Notaro's two-out, two-run single extended the Seawolves lead to 3-0. Stephanie Poetzsch, who saw her quest for a no-hitter ended in the top of the sixth with Aliesha Rautenberg's hit to shortstop, went the distance for her eighth shutout of the season. Poetzsch allowed just two hits and one walk while striking out 10. Kristen Brust collected a pair of hits for the Seawolves, while Notaro was 1-for-3 with two RBI. In game two, Maine pulled ahead 1-0 in the third inning with an RBI single to left center field from Erica Sobel. The Seawolves struggled at the plate, managing just two hits against the Black Bears' Jenna Merchant. Poetzsch, who returned to pitch game two, allowed seven hits in the first six innings before Lindsey DeLaRosa took her place on the mound. DeLaRosa pitched out of a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the top of the seventh, but the Seawolves couldn't get the bats going in the bottom of the inning.

AN EYE ON THE AMERICA EAST: The top four teams in the America East Conference standings after the regular season advance to the conference tournament, May 9-11 at the University of Vermont. Right now, the Seawolves sit in sixth place and need to win their six remaining games to contend for a tournament berth. Boston University, which has a strong hold on first place with a 19-3 record, has already clinched a tournament seed.

NEARING A MILESTONE: With one more victory, the Seawolves will set a new all-time record for most wins in a season. Saturday's 3-0 win tied the mark set by first-year coach Megan Bryant last year, when she led Stony Brook to a 21-23 record. The 21 W's marked the most wins in a season since 1991, when the Seawolves went 14-10. That is also the last year Stony Brook finished above .500.

IMPROVING HER MARKS: Stephanie Poetzsch improved her own single-season record for most strikeouts on Saturday. Poetzsch fanned 18 batters in the two games and she now has 247 on the season. Last year, Poetzsch recorded a total of 231 K's to set a new single-season record. She now owns the top three spots in Stony Brook softball history.

LISA COMES THROUGH: Senior Lisa Notaro has come up with some big hits lately in helping the Seawolves make a run for the America East Tournament. The designated hitter belted her first career homerun, a two-run shot over the left centerfield fence, against Marist last week in an 8-5 non-conference victory. She also came up with a key hit in Saturday's 3-0 victory over Maine. With the Seawolves clinging to a 1-0 lead, Notaro's two-out, two-run double, a shot that bounced off the top of the centerfield fence, extended the Seawolves lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the sixth.

EYE ON THE RECORD BOOKS: Kristen Brust needs just one double to set a new single-season record in Stony Brook softball history. Brust's 13th double against Marist equals the single-season record held by Tricia Lipareli.