The softball team started off the season in Florida from Friday to Sunday finishing the Jacksonville University Tournament with a 1-5 record.
The Seawolves took on No. 17 Louisville in the first game on Friday and were defeated 8-0. Sophomore pitcher Allison Curkov pitched her 31st career complete game and struck out three batters, but with 14 hits and eight runs, the Cardinal’s offense was too strong.
Hannah Kiyohara’s two-run homer for Louisville in the top of the second gave the Cardinals wings as they soared through the rest of the game. Stony Brook had three hits the whole game including two singles by junior Nicole Hagerty and one by redshirt-sophomore Nicole Hoyle.
Game two was against Jacksonville. Freshman pitcher Jane Sallen held the Dolphins through the first three innings. Sophomore Shayla Giosia scored Stony Brook’s first run of the year with an RBI single up the middle putting senior Gina Bianculli on base in the top of the third.
In the fourth, Jacksonville’s Ashley Simon scored a two-run homer which led to four more runs in the fifth and another off of a Seawolves error, making the final score 6-1.
Jacksonville outhit Stony Brook 9-4. Sallen allowed six runs on eight hits in 4.1 innings and junior pitcher Christine Lucido pitched 1.2 scoreless frames.
On Saturday, the Seawolves won their first game of the season, 2-1, against Bethune-Cookman.
Lucido started on the mound, tossing six innings, allowing just four hits and one run. The only run that Bethune-Cookman could score was in the bottom of the second when Shamaria Engram doubled down the left field line to bring in the game’s first run.
The turning point in the game for Stony Brook was in the seventh inning. Down to their final two outs and a runner on first, Giosia and Bianculi hit back-to-back singles, which let junior Jessica Crombs send one run in, tying the score. Hagerty finished it off with a double, sending Giosia home and giving Stony Brook the lead.
Cukrov entered the game in the bottom of the seventh and secured the win. The Seawolves had nine hits, a season high including three from Hagerty and two from Giosia.
Later on, the Seawolves faced defeat, 9-1, against Jacksonville for the second time. The Dolphins started the game off strong with two runs by Sarah Simon and Karson Tuck giving them a 2-0 lead in the first. Hagerty scored Stony Brook’s only run after an infield hit in the bottom of the frame.
Jacksonville took off, scoring four more runs after leading 5-1 in the seventh. Cukrov suffered her second loss of the season, giving up 13 hits and eight earned runs.
In the final day of the tournament, Stony Brook matched up with No. 17 Louisville one last time, ending in a Seawolves defeat, 5-0. In a much more competitive game than their first meeting, Louisville only got seven hits, five off of Sallen, and scored in only three innings. Stony Brook had five hits.
The Cardinals scored the game’s first run off of an RBI single by Kiyohara in the bottom of the second, before two more runs were scored in the fourth. The score stuck after the fifth when Kayla Soles hit a two-run homer off of Lucido.
The last game of the tournament ended with an 11-4 loss against Ohio State. The Buckeyes scored 11 runs on 18 hits.
Cukrov gave up four runs on nine hits after Sallen took over in the fifth. Ohio State scored six runs in the top of the fifth making the score 10-1. Stony Brook countered with two runs in the bottom and then scored their last off of a wild pitch in the seventh.
Stony Brook did not hit a home run over the weekend, but did record seven doubles.
The Seawolves are looking forward to the Longwood Adidas Spring Classic in Farmville, Va. this weekend where they will take on Longwood and Bucknell twice each.
