March 10, 2011
Raleigh, N.C. - The Stony Brook softball team will travel south this weekend for its third tournament of the season, the NC State Wolfpack Challenge. The Seawolves face Fairfield and host NC State on Friday, before taking on Charleston Southern and James Madison on Saturday.
Stony Brook (2-7) is coming off a five-game trip at the Florida Atlantic Miken Classic in Boca Raton, Fla., where the team posted a 1-4 record. The Seawolves' victory came against Harvard, a 4-0 shutout courtesy of a complete-game, four-hitter from pitcher Taylor Chain (Gloucester, N.J.). Junior Bernadette Tenuto (Audubon, N.J.) led the team with a .417 average at the tournament, including a home run and two RBI against the Crimson.
Junior Suzanne Karath (Fishkill, N.Y.) owns a .296 batting average in nine games to lead the Seawolves offense. Tenuto's .375 slugging percentage and .379 on-base percentage are team highs as well. Defensively, Tenuto also leads the team with 46 put-outs and a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.
In three appearances, Chain boasts a 1.45 ERA in 9.2 innings thus far, while senior Colleen Matthes (Severn, Md.) has posted a 4.70 ERA with 26 strikeouts in 47.2 innings of work.
Tournament Schedule
Fri., March 11 - Stony Brook vs. Fairfield, 10 a.m. LIVE STATS
Fri., March 11 - Stony Brook vs. North Carolina State, 2:30 p.m. LIVE STATS
Sat., March 12 - Stony Brook vs. Charleston Southern, 10 a.m. LIVE STATS
Sat., March 12 - Stony Brook vs. James Madison, 2:30 p.m. LIVE STATS
Scouting Fairfield (2-3)
The Stags opened the 2011 season with a 2-1 win over Campbell at the ECU Pirate Classic in Greenville, N.C., but lost their next three games at the tournament to Towson (twice) and host East Carolina. Fairfield bounced back on the final day of the competition with 12-11 victory over Lehigh in eight innings. Through five games, Alli Wigand has batted .500 (7-for-14) to lead four Fairfield players with .300 averages or better. The matchup will be a preview of next weekend's Stony Brook Invitational, when the Seawolves and Stags are scheduled to meet twice on March 19-20.
Scouting North Carolina State (7-9)
The Wolfpack will be playing in their fifth tournament of the season this weekend after making trips to South Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee Tech. NC State has already faced the current top two teams in the NFCA/USA Today poll, falling to No. 1 Georgia, 13-4, and No. 2 Florida, 9-0. The team boasts three players with 10+ RBI, including Alyssa Allbritten who has one HR, 11 RBI and a .375 batting average.
Scouting Charleston Southern (10-11)
The Buccaneers head to Raleigh having won four of their last five games. The squad opened the season with a 10-6 loss to South Carolina, which is the only common opponent shared with Stony Brook so far in 2011. Charleston Southern boasts a high-powered offense with six players hitting better than .310, including Erin Kegley (.328) who has smacked four HR for 16 RBI. As a team, the Buccaneers average almost five runs per game (4.86) in 21 contests.
Scouting James Madison (11-4)
The only team over .500 at the tournament, James Madison has won six of its last eight games. The Dukes have played four games against teams the Seawolves have met, and have posted a 3-1 record in those games with victories over Seton Hall (twice) and a split vs. Bucknell. James Madison owns a 2.06 team ERA with Olivia McPherson and Cara Stecher combining for a 9-1 record, five complete games and 48 strikeouts.
