March 22, 2009

Box Score

Stony Brook, N.Y. - Stony Brook University's softball team won its eighth-straight game and claimed the 2009 Stony Brook Invitational title with a 5-1 victory over Quinnipiac on Sunday afternoon. The Seawolves went 3-0 during the Invitational and handed Quinnipiac its only loss of the weekend. Stony Brook is now 12-3 on the season, posting an undefeated, 5-0, record at home.

Stony Brook got off to a shaky start on Sunday as the Bobcats opened the game with a single through the right side. A sac bunt moved the runner over to second and a second single to right gave Quinnipiac an early 1-0 lead. A single and a groundout put runners on second and third with two outs, but junior Casey Jacobs (Davie, Fla.) escaped without any further damage by getting the next batter to groundout to third.

The Bobcats were retired in order in the second and third innings, but threatened again in the fourth. Two singles to left put runners on first and third with two out and chased Jacobs from the game, who was replaced by junior Alyssa Struzenberg (Cooper City, Fla.). Stony Brook kept Quinnipiac off the board when junior catcher Jade Clare (Federal Way, Wash.) caught the runner from first trying to steal.

After managing just one hit in the first three innings, the Seawolves got things rolling offensively in the bottom of the fourth. Senior Molly Kestranek (St. Mary's, Ga.) started things off with an infield single. A sac bunt moved her to second and a fly out brought senior Kelsi Fanelli (Audubon, N.J.) to the plate with two outs. In a 3-2 count, Fanelli singled up the middle, scoring Kestranek. Having advanced to second on the throw home, Fanelli then scored on a single by junior Kendall Blumenthal (Frederick, Md.), putting Stony Brook ahead 2-1.

Things continued to click for the Seawolves in the fifth inning as freshman Suzanne Karath (Fishkill, N.Y.) started things off with a walk and moved to third on a single by junior Vicki Kavitsky (Cherry Hill, N.J.). Kavitsky then swiped her third bag of the day to put runners on second and third. Kestranek roped a single to leftcenter to plate Karath and senior Marissa Fleury (Mahopac, N.Y.) followed with an RBI single of her own, to extend Stony Brook's lead to three.

SBU would push across an unearned run in the sixth to put the score at 5-1, which was more than enough for Struzenberg, who held the Bobcats hitless in 3.1 innings to win her sixth game of the year.

Stony Brook will play its seventh-straight home game this Tuesday when they host a double-header against Rhode Island. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.