Feb. 27, 2009

Box Score

Orlando, Fla. - Stony Brook University's softball team opened its 2009 campaign with a bang when junior Vicki Kavitsky (Cherry Hill, N.J.) homered in the first at-bat of the season for the Seawolves. Stony Brook went on to win their opener against Florida A&M by a score of 7-2. Kavitsky was not done though, hitting two triples, one of them being a walk-off in the bottom of the ninth, against Villanova. The Seawolves won their second game, 6-5.

Kavitsky's leadoff homer was the first of six hits for Stony Brook in its first inning of action this season. Juniors Crista Cerrone (Floral Park, N.Y.) and Jade Clare (Federal Way, Wash.) and seniors Marissa Fleury (Mahopac, N.Y.) and Kelly Oberto (Spring Lake Heights, N.J.) all singled while freshman Bernadette Tenuto (Audubon, N.J.) hit a two-run double in her first career at-bat.

After the initial onslaught, the Seawolves' bats cooled off a bit before sophomore Brijette Martin (New York, N.Y.) and Kavitsky hit back-to-back singles in the fourth inning; both would eventually come around to score unearned runs. All-in-all the Seawolves had ten hits against the Rattlers, led by Kavitsky and Cerrone, who both went 2-for-3.

In the circle, junior Alyssa Struzenberg (Cooper City, Fla.) allowed two hits and just one earned run, coming on a sacrifice bunt in the first inning. She registered ten strikeouts, but showed some early-season rust, issuing six walks.

In game two, Villanova threatened early with runners at second and third with only one out, but sophomore Colleen Matthes (Severn, Md.) escaped unscathed, inducing a grounder to short and then a strikeout to end the top-half of the first inning. Kavitsky opened the Seawolves half with a triple to left-centerfield and scored on a single by Cerrone, to give Stony Brook a 1-0 lead.

In the second inning, the Wildcats again put runners on second and third, but this time Matthes was unable to keep them there as Villanova went on to score four runs in the inning. Eryn Teague's triple to right center was the big hit for the Wildcats, plating two of their four runs.

Oberto kept the Seawolves within striking distance at 4-2 when she homered down the leftfield line in the bottom half of the second inning and junior Kendall Blumenthal (Frederick, Md.) knotted the score at 4-4 in the third with a bases loaded single up the middle.

In the top of the seventh inning, Villanova loaded the bases with no outs on three-straight singles and threatened to break the game open. Matthes hung tough, however, recording three groundball outs to keep the Wildcats off the scoreboard.

Two innings later, with the Wildcats having a runner automatically placed on second-base due to the game being in extra innings, Teague grounded out to Matthes, advancing the runner to third. The next batter grounded out to first, scoring the runner and putting Villanova ahead, 5-4.

In the bottom of the ninth, Blumenthal advanced from second on a passed ball before pinch-hitter Clare walked to put runners on first and third with no outs. Freshman Suzanne Karath (Fishkill, N.Y.) then pitch-ran for Clare before Kavitsky lined her second triple of the game, scoring both runners and winning the game for the Seawolves, 6-5. Matthes earned the victory, throwing nine innings and striking out five.

Stony Brook has two more games tomorrow, facing Syracuse at 9:30 a.m. and Western Michigan at 1:30 p.m.