STONY BROOK, N.Y. — Kyra McFarland capped off a perfect day at the dish with a walk-off homer to clinch a series win over Charleston on Sunday at University Field. Down to their final out, the Cougars tied the game in the seventh, but it was McFarland's heroics that ultimately decided the Sunday matinee on Long Island.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Crimson Rice made her second start of the weekend series on Sunday, starting her day with a 1-2-3 inning.
- Stony Brook's offense put up three runs in the home half of the first. Alyssa Costello started things with a single through the middle, scoring on Mia Vannelli's fielder's choice. Emma Scheitinger plated a run on a single and a third run scored on a fielding error.
- Rice worked around an error behind her to complete a second straight scoreless inning to start her Sunday.
- After the Seawolves went down in order in the second, Charleston evened things at 3-3 with a three-run inning of its own. The Cougars loaded the bases with nobody out and pushed a pair of runs across before registering an out.
- Gabrielle Maday entered in relief of Rice, who failed to record an out in the third and allowed the first five hitters to reach base. Maday allowed one inherited runner to score, but stranded a pair of runners to keep things tied.
- Stony Brook put runners in scoring position in the third, fourth and fifth innings, but could not capitalize on the opportunities.
- Maday retired the side in order in the fourth and fifth, then worked around trouble to strand a pair of runners in scoring position in a tied game in the sixth.
- Nicole Allen pinch hit to lead off the sixth, doubling down the left field line. Allen moved up 60 feet on a Kaiya Simpkins sacrifice bunt and then scored the go-ahead run on a Costello sacrifice fly.
- Down to their final out, the Cougars tied things up on a Paradis double over Scheitinger's head in right. Maday induced a grounder to limit the damage to one run and give her offense a chance to win it in the bottom of the seventh.
- McFarland did just that, slamming the second pitch she saw over the fence in center to walk it off.
STATS AND NOTES
- McFarland's homer capped off a perfect 4-4 day at the dish. The homer was her first of the season and the third of her career. McFarland's 11 extra-base hits through 23 games this season are already a new career-best mark.
- Maday earned the win in relief, her fifth of the season. She allowed five hits over five innings of work, conceding one earned run and striking out three.
- Freshmen Mia Vannelli and Nicole Allen both tallied doubles in the win. Vannelli has now hit safely in four straight games and has tallied back-to-back multi-hit efforts. Allen's hit was the first of her collegiate career in her second at-bat of the season.
- The series win is Stony Brook's second of conference play.
- The victory marks the Seawolves' fourth of league play. All four of Stony Brook's four wins against conference opponents have been by one run.
QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
"What a terrific ballgame. I think all around, all three parts of the game, our best game of the year," head coach Megan T. Bryant said. "She's a good hitter, she's a fifth-year player. She works super hard in the weight room. She refused to lose there and that's what you love to see out of a fifth-year veteran player," Bryant added regarding McFarland's walk-off homer.
UP NEXT
Stony Brook hits the road for a mid-week doubleheader at Sacred Heart on Tuesday, March 25. The Seawolves and Pioneers are slated for a 2 pm first pitch in Fairfield, Connecticut, with both contests streaming live on ESPN+.
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