March 4, 2011

Seton Hall Box Score

Providence Box Score

Boca Raton, Fla. - The Stony Brook softball team battled Big East opponents Seton Hall and Providence on Friday, but came up empty on the opening day of the Florida Atlantic Miken Classic, falling to the Pirates, 2-1, in eight innings, and the Friars, 13-4, in five innings.

Senior pitcher Colleen Matthes (Severn, Md.) pitched a gem against Seton Hall (5-6), striking out seven batters and allowing just four hits in seven innings of work. Junior Lauren Maloney (Las Vegas, Nev.) staked the Seawolves to a 1-0 lead in the third inning when she singled home sophomore Gina Bianculli (Oakdale, N.Y.), who had drawn a leadoff walk.

The advantage held into the bottom of the sixth, when Seton Hall evened the scoreline. With runners at the corners and two outs, the Pirates' Christie Jensen raced home on a passed ball to knot the game at 1-1. Matthes promptly got out of the jam by fanning the batter at the plate to end the threat and preserve the tie.

With the intentional tie-break rule in effect in the eighth inning, Stony Brook had a chance to regain the lead with Bianculli at second to open the frame. Sophomore Samantha Rossi (Marlton, N.J.) placed a sacrifice bunt down the third base line to put Bianculli at third with one away. But the Seawolves could not advance Bianculli any further as Seton Hall pitcher Hannah Hill retired junior Alyssa Hawley (Spokane, Wash.) and Maloney to end the threat.

The Pirates were then able to grind out the winning run in the bottom of the eighth after back-to-back fielder's choices allowed Jeanette Ragucci, who started the inning on second, to scamper home.

The Seawolves registered five hits in the first game, including two by junior Suzanne Karath (Fishkill, N.Y.).

In the second game against Providence (2-4), the Seawolves outscored the Friars by a 4-2 margin in innings one, two, three and five, but an 11-run outburst by Providence in the top of the fourth put the game out of doubt.

After the Friars plated a run in the top of the second, the Seawolves responded to tie the game in the third when Hawley scored on an error by the second baseman. Providence answered back in a big way, however, capitalizing on three Stony Brook errors and five hits to take a commanding 12-1 lead after four.

The Seawolves showed heart in the bottom of the fifth to try to make a game of it once again. After back-to-back singles by Rossi and Hawley, Maloney was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs. Freshman Elise Fortier (Coventry, R.I.) then squibbed one up the middle, forcing the second baseman into a tough play and an error, which allowed Rossi and Hawley to score. Sophomore Shannon O'Shea (Lake Worth, Fla.), playing just minutes away from her hometown, proceeded to line the ball up the middle for a basehit and an RBI to round out the scoring.

Stony Brook will be back in action on Saturday when it faces Harvard at 6 p.m. and host Florida Atlantic at 8 p.m.