March 19, 2011

Holy Cross Box Score

Fairfield Box Score

Stony Brook, N.Y. - Pitchers Taylor Chain (Gloucester, N.J.) and Colleen Matthes (Severn, Md.) combined to allow just three earned runs on Saturday as the Seawolves split a pair of games at the Stony Brook Invitational. Chain earned a victory against Holy Cross as the Seawolves prevailed, 5-2, while Matthes allowed just one earned run in a 2-1 defeat to Fairfield.

Chain (3-2) struck out four batters in 6.2 innings of work to help Stony Brook (6-9), which played as the away team, earn a victory in its first game at University Field in 2011. The Seawolves pounded out 12 hits in the contest, including a three-run homerun by freshman Jessica Combs (Hammonton, N.J.) in the top of the sixth.

Stony Brook got on the board first in the second inning when sophomore Shannon O'Shea (Lake Worth, Fla.) singled home junior Suzanne Karath (Fishkill, N.Y.), who had reached third base following a dropped fly ball by the right fielder.

After the Crusaders (4-8) evened the score with a solo-homerun in the third, Stony Brook opened up the game when Combs blasted her second-career homerun to straightaway center, bringing in freshman Elise Fortier (Coventry, R.I.) and junior Bernadette Tenuto (Audubon, N.J.) to make it 4-1.

Both teams added runs in the seventh. Combs registered her fourth RBI of the game with a single that scored junior Lauren Maloney (Las Vegas, Nev.), giving the Seawolves a 5-1 advantage.  Holy Cross answered with back-to-back, two-out doubles in the bottom of the frame to nudge closer. The Crusaders then managed to load the bases, but Matthes, who entered the inning in relief, struck out the final batter to end the game and earn the save.

Four Seawolves posted multi-hit efforts in the contest, including three-hit games from O'Shea (3-for-3) and Fortier (3-for-4), and two-hit performances from Karath (2-for-4) and Combs (2-for-4).

In the second game against Fairfield, the Stags (7-6) snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with two runs in the top of the seventh. After a walk and two infield singles loaded the bases with one out, Alli Wigand hit a sacrifice fly to left to tie the score at 1-1. All three runners tagged up on the play, giving the Stags two runners in scoring position with two down. On the ensuing play, the runner at third scampered home on a passed ball to put Fairfield ahead for good.

Stony Brook had taken a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second when Tenuto scored on an error, one of two Fairfield miscues in the frame.

Matthes rung up nine batters and pitched out of several jams as the Stags stranded 10 runners on base. Fairfield pitcher Sarah Minice allowed just three hits (Tenuto, Combs, O'Shea) and recorded five strikeouts in seven innings.

The three teams will be back on the diamond again tomorrow beginning at 10:30 a.m. with Fairfield at Stony Brook. As was the practice on Saturday, the home teams in each game will be determined by a pre-game coin flip.