Despite having its 13-game winning streak in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play snapped, the Stony Brook softball team came out on top for a fifth consecutive weekend series.
Over the holiday weekend, the Seawolves (21-20, 15-6 CAA) were down south in North Carolina for a three-game set with the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) Seahawks (24-20, 10-11 CAA). On Friday, Stony Brook took the series opener 4-1 before securing the series win with a hard-fought, 2-1 win on Saturday. During Sunday’s series finale, UNCW handed the Seawolves a 5-2 loss to halt their conference winning streak at 13 games in a row.
To begin the series, Stony Brook rode a late-inning rally to victory after being shut down for a majority of the game.
Through the first five innings of the contest, the Seawolves managed only three singles against UNCW starting pitcher Makayla Huddleston. Luckily for Stony Brook, right-hander Crimson Rice was also lights out, as she left six Seahawks stranded across five scoreless frames to set the Seawolves up to pull ahead in the sixth.
After shortstop Kyra McFarland slapped an infield single to lead off the top of the sixth inning, Stony Brook was gift-wrapped the go-ahead run. During the ensuing at-bat, center fielder Alyssa Costello chopped another infield single to UNCW shortstop Maggie Pertee, whose throw to first base went awry to score McFarland and move Costello to second.
With a pair of runners now in scoring position following a base knock by left fielder Nicole Allen, third baseman Madelyn Stepski came through. Though pinch runner Daniella Sofia was gunned down at home as the trail runner, Stepski banged a single through the middle of the diamond to score Costello and double the Seawolves’ lead.
After allowing four straight hits to start the stanza, UNCW head coach Ashley Wade pulled Huddleston in favor of reliever Lynsie Herman. However, the left-hander was rudely welcomed into the game, as designated player Mia Vannelli sent the first pitch she saw back up the middle to make it 3-0.
Two batters later, catcher Emily Reinstein picked up a run batted in (RBI) on a groundout to cap off the four-run sixth inning.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Seahawks finally cracked Rice. To start things off, UNCW left fielder Arial Pearce laced an opposite-field triple over Allen’s head in left, allowing center fielder Cassidy Relay to bring her home with a groundout. Nonetheless, Rice closed the door from there, inducing another groundout to seal the win.
Friday’s start marked another successful notch in the belt for Rice’s rookie campaign. The right-hander hurled a one-run complete game on six hits, two walks and a strikeout across 116 pitches.
Similar to Rice’s performance on Friday, left-hander Maddie Male produced a strong start of her own on Saturday, though it got off on the wrong foot. Relay led off the bottom of the first inning with a single and promptly stole second base with one out. With a newfound runner in scoring position, UNCW right fielder Morgan Britt sliced an RBI single into right field to give the Seahawks an early 1-0 lead.
Though they failed to make noise against UNCW starting pitcher Taylor Barlow through the first three frames, the Seawolves knotted the game at 1-1 in the top of the fourth inning. Allen led off the stanza with an infield single deep into the hole at shortstop before Stepski bunted her into scoring position. Though Barlow got Vannelli to pop out in foul ground for the second out, right fielder Emma Scheitinger clutched up and dumped a game-tying, RBI single into right field.
In the top of the sixth inning, Stony Brook was able to break the deadlock. It was Allen getting the rally started once again with another infield single, this time to UNCW second baseman Ava Tsiouplis. Two batters later, Vannelli singled to put runners on the corners with one out. Despite not receiving another big hit, the Seawolves did not need one.
With Scheitinger at the plate, Barlow fired a pitch that popped in and out of catcher Mackenzie Amodeo’s glove, allowing pinch runner Marissa Thalassinos to dart home with the go-ahead run on a passed ball.
To lead off the bottom of the sixth, the Seahawks put together two consecutive singles, prompting head coach Megan Bryant to summon left-hander Gabrielle Maday out of the bullpen. With UNCW threatening, Maday shimmied out of the jam by inducing a flyout before getting first baseman Allison Corbin to line into a double play.
An inning later, the Seahawks nearly battled their way back while down to their final out. With two away, Relay and shortstop Madison Biddle each tallied infield singles to put the tying and winning runs on base, but Maday induced a groundout off Britt’s bat to secure the save.
Despite walking the tightrope on a few different occasions, the pairing of Male and Maday were able to outduel Barlow. Through five innings, Male surrendered one run, seven hits and a walk while striking out two Seahawks. Maday twirled two scoreless innings, allowing two hits while nullifying two inherited runners to earn her CAA-leading fourth save of the season.
Following two tightly-contested games to open the series, UNCW finally opened things up a bit during the series finale to finally end the Seawolves’ positive momentum.
For a second straight game, the Seahawks drew first blood, and unlike game one, got to Rice early. With a runner on and two outs in the bottom of the second inning, UNCW third baseman Lauryn Richardson blasted a two-run home run just inside the left-field foul pole to make it 2-0.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Seahawks stretched their advantage to 3-0. After Tsiouplis sent a one-out single into center field, Pearce advanced her to second base with a groundout. With two gone, Pertee pulled a grounder to the right side that second baseman Naiah Ackerman dove for. Ackerman kept it on the infield and attempted to shovel the ball to first base with hopes of ending the inning and the threat. However, Tsiouplis came around to score when it squirted away from first baseman Malorie Hill.
With that, Rice’s day came to a close after just 3 ⅔ innings, as she allowed three runs on five hits, a walk and a punchout.
Though relief pitcher Jordyn Fray stranded a runner to close the book in the fourth inning, she faltered in the fifth. With a runner on and one out, Biddle stepped up to the plate and crushed UNCW’s second two-run homer of the game over the left-field fence.
Fray’s outing was short-lived, as the right-hander allowed two runs on a hit and a walk across ⅔ innings.
Despite being down 5-0, Maday took the circle and pitched to one hit and a strikeout across 1 ⅔ scoreless innings, giving her team a chance to crawl back in.
After being stymied by Herman through the first six innings of the contest, the first three Seawolves to come to bat in the seventh reached base. With the bases juiced and no outs, pinch hitter Kaiya Simpkins picked up an RBI groundout to get Stony Brook on the board.
With two outs, McFarland walked to reload the bases. Immediately after, Costello squibbed a weak grounder that barely hugged the third-base line on the infield to stay fair, scoring another run.
Costello’s fortunate hit paved the way for Thalassinos — who pinch hit for Allen — to enter the batter’s box as the go-ahead run. However, Herman got her to fly out to shallow left field, erasing the tying runs on base to officially finish the Seawolves’ conference win streak.
Offensively, Stony Brook was not nearly as potent as in week’s past. Costello went 4-for-12 with an RBI and a run scored while McFarland went 5-for-11 with a double, a run, a walk and a stolen base.
Scheitinger delivered five hits in nine at-bats with an RBI, a run and a steal. Stepski scored and drove in a run but went just 1-for-8. Vannelli went 2-for-8 with an RBI, two runs and two walks. Reinstein went 3-for-8 with an RBI.
In her lone plate appearance, Simpkins failed to record a hit but drove in a run for her first collegiate RBI. Aside from McFarland, Ackerman notched the team’s only other extra-base hit over the weekend, going 2-for-9 with a double.
With UNCW’s iteration of the Seahawks in the rearview mirror, the Seawolves will return to University Field this week for their final stretch of home games for the year. Stony Brook’s four-game homestand will begin on Wednesday with a non-conference matchup against the Wagner Seahawks, who are 15-22 overall this season and 10-8 in Northeast Conference action. Wagner is coming into the game having dropped a series against Long Island University Brooklyn over the weekend. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.
