April 14, 2012

Game One Box Score

Game Two Box Score

Baltimore, Md. - The Stony Brook softball team pounded out 29 runs to thump conference-rival UMBC in a doubleheader on Saturday in Baltimore, Md. Stony Brook won the first game, 10-1, before running away with game two, 19-3. 

Saturday's unprecedented offensive explosion was one for the record books as the Seawolves (26-9, 7-1 America East) had previously never scored more than 28 runs against an America East opponent on a single day. Stony Brook's old record was set on April 7, 2007 when the Seawolves beat Maine in a doubleheader, 3-2 and 25-0, to compile 28 runs on the day. Stony Brook topped the record on Saturday with 10 runs in the opener and 19 in the second game, which also represented the most runs in a single game since the 25-run outburst against the Black Bears over five years ago.

The Seawolves' offensive onslaught started early in game one and never diminished. Senior Suzanne Karath (Fishkill, N.Y.) set the tone with a leadoff triple and later scored on an error to put the visitors in front. A sacrifice fly by senior Lauren Maloney (Las Vegas, Nev.) made it 2-0 later in the first, before sophomore Jessica Combs (Hammonton, N.J.) doubled home a third run to extend the lead.

Freshman Shayla Giosia (Runnemede, N.J.) hit her team-leading sixth home run of the season to lead off the third and then added two more RBI an inning later with a single to left as Stony Brook grabbed a 7-1 advantage through four innings. 

Stony Brook dialed up three more in the fifth as freshman Lauren Kamachi (Surrey, British Columbia) singled in a run, before Karath plated two more with a single of her own. 

The Seawolves outhit the Retrievers (17-21, 1-7 America East), 12-4, in the opener as Karath went 3-for-3 with two runs and two RBI and Giosia went 2-for-4 with three RBI. Seven of Stony Brook's nine starters recorded hits in the game, including six starters with run-scoring hits.

Freshman Allison Cukrov (Irvine, Calif.) picked up her 12th straight win and improved to 16-4 with a complete-game effort in the circle. Cukrov struck out five and gave up a run in the third inning to spoil what would have been her record-tying 11th shutout of the season. 

Game two picked up where the opener left off as Stony Brook sent 15 batters to the plate in the first inning and scored 11 runs to blow it open early. The Seawolves had seven hits in the frame and also capitalized on some sloppy play by UMBC to the tune of three errors, two walks, a wild pitch and a hit-by-pitch, all coming before the second out was recorded. Stony Brook's 11 first-inning runs were the most in any frame since the Seawolves dropped 12 on Toledo in the first inning of a game played on Feb. 19, 2010.

Senior Alyssa Hawley (Spokane, Wash.) had two hits and scored two runs in the first inning alone and finished 3-for-5 with two RBI. Hawley was one of three Seawolves to have three hits in game two, joining Maloney (3-for-3, two RBI, four runs) and senior Bernadette Tenuto (3-for-4, three RBI, two runs). 

All nine starters had hits in game two and nine different Stony Brook players scored at least one run. In addition, the top five hitters in the Seawolves' lineup (Karath, Hawley, Giosia, Maloney and Tenuto) finished 11-for-20 with nine RBI and 14 runs scored. 

Sophomore Alex Clark (Warsaw, Va.) earned the win in game two after relieving Cukrov in the third inning. Clark allowed a three-run homer in the third, but settled down to finish out the game, while receiving plenty of run support on the scoreboard.

Both games on Saturday ended after five innings due to the eight-run rule. Stony Brook has now won eight games this season by virtue of the mercy rule and has scored 10 runs or more on seven occasions. The Seawolves are currently averaging 5.4 runs per game, up from 3.1 last season. At this current pace, Stony Brook is on track to score roughly 286 runs during the regular season, which would shatter the program's all-time record of 251 set in 2009.

The hot-hitting Seawolves will look for the weekend sweep on Sunday when the teams meet for a single game at noon.