April 27, 2011
Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
Stony Brook, N.Y. - On the strength of solid pitching and clutch hitting, the Stony Brook softball team swept a doubleheader against Quinnipiac by scores of 2-0 and 4-3 on Wednesday. The Seawolves (17-24) allowed just seven hits on the day to earn their second doubleheader sweep of the season.
In the first game, senior Colleen Matthes (Severn, Md.) limited the Bobcats (27-22) to two hits, while striking out eight over seven innings. Freshman Alexandra Clark (Warsaw, Va.) turned in her second straight quality start in game two, pitching into the eighth inning and allowing just two earned runs. With one out in the eighth, Clark was pulled in favor of sophomore Taylor Chain (Gloucester, N.J.), who struck out two batters to end the frame with runners on second and third. The Seawolves prevailed in the bottom of the inning when sophomore Gina Bianculli (Oakdale, N.Y.) singled in the winning run with one out.
"We had good efforts in the circle from Colleen, Alex and Taylor in relief," Stony Brook head coach Megan Bryant explained. "We brought Taylor into a difficult situation and she stayed tough, kept the ball down and got us out of the jam."
Matthes, who took the loss against Quinnipiac on Feb. 27, was in command from the outset in game one. Despite walking five batters, the senior gave up only two singles and bought the Seawolves' offense enough time to break through on the scoresheet.
Stony Brook did just that in the fifth inning when freshman Jessica Combs (Hammonton, N.J.) singled in freshman Nicole Schieferstein (Seaford, N.Y.) to make it 1-0. An inning later, sophomore Shannon O'Shea (Lake Worth, Fla.) registered an RBI groundout to double the lead and give Matthes a bit of breathing room.
In the second game, the Bobcats plated an unearned run off a sacrifice fly in the top of the first. Stony Brook scored the next three runs on RBI hits from junior Lauren Maloney (Las Vegas, Nev.), Combs and junior Bernadette Tenuto (Audubon, N.J.) in the bottom of the second.
The 3-1 lead held until the top of the fifth when Quinnipiac slugger Jordan Paolucci connected on her 12th home run of the season, a two-run shot, to even the score at 3-3.
Clark was able to stem the tide from there, getting some defensive help along the way. In the sixth, the Bobcats threatened to take the lead with runners at second and third and no outs. Clark promptly struck out the next batter and then induced an inning-ending double play with the final out coming on a big tag at the plate by O'Shea.
After Chain's stellar relief effort in the top of the eighth, the Seawolves ended the game with three hits in the home half of the inning. Junior Suzanne Karath (Fishkill, N.Y.) led off with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifica bunt by freshman Elise Fortier (Coventry, R.I.). After a single by O'Shea, Bianculli delivered the final blow with a seeing-eye single through the left side to hand Stony Brook the 4-3 win.
With two victories Wednesday, Stony Brook extended its winning streak to three games. The Seawolves' only other doubleheader sweep of the season came on March 20 when the team beat Fairfield and Holy Cross in back-to-back games of the Stony Brook Invitational.
The Seawolves will look to channel the momentum into the weekend when they host Binghamton for a three-game series beginning Saturday at 1 p.m.
