The Stony Brook Seawolves softball team took their talents to Georgia to open up their 2014 campaign this past weekend. However, the reigning America East Champions looked like they left their bats on the snow-covered Long Island campus. The Seawolves dropped all five games in the Georgia Tech-Kennesaw State Invite, losing to Georgia Tech twice, Georgia State twice and Kenessaw State once.
Allison Cukrov got the start for the Seawolves in their first game Friday against Georgia State, and struggled from the start. She hit the first batter of the game, Taylor Anderson, and ended up in a tough situation with nobody out and the first two runners on base.
She would escape with minimal damage, however, with Anderson scoring off a Callie Alford single to left field and after the first it was 1-0 Panthers.
This would become a common theme, as Cukrov let up a run in three of her first four innings and Stony Brook found themselves down 3-0 after four.
The Seawolves found their power in the sixth, when Alexandra Pisciotta sent one over the left-field wall for the Seawolves’ first run of the season.
In the seventh, Bria Green hit another long ball over the same left field wall. However, that was the closest Stony Brook would get, as two strikeouts and a popout would end the game.
In their second game, against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Stony Brook’s offense heated up. But once on base, the Seawolves couldn’t cash in any runs, leaving an astounding 12 runners on base and committing two costly errors, leading to an 11-2 loss after six innings.
In the second day of the three-day invite, the Seawolves’ were put into an early hole, a common theme down south this weekend for Megan Bryant’s team.
In the first inning against a familiar Georgia State opponent, after Megan Litumbe walked to load the bases, Stony Brook pitcher Jane Sallen had an errant throw which allowed Lauren Coleman and Alford to score.
A second inning sacrifice fly would make it 3-0 Panthers before Stony Brook could get on the board, but the Seawolves responded in a big way.
After back-to-back walks to start their half of the second, the Seawolves would hit two foul ball pop flies for the first two outs of the inning. Pisciotta then loaded the bases with a single up the middle and a walk following that made it 3-1 Georgia State. Shayla Giosia then hit a clutch two-run single up the middle, tying the game at 3 at the end of two.
The Seawolves then took their first lead of the season, with Green beating out a grounder to third base to score the go-ahead run with two outs to make it 4-3.
Georgia State responded, however, with runs in each of the final three innings. Ashley Christy subbed in to run for Litumbe after she reached second base on a single and an error. Christy scored on Jessica Clifton’s single, which tied the game at four after five innings.
In the sixth, the Panthers would add another to take the lead for good when Anderson scored from second on a ground out.
The seventh would see two insurance runs for Georgia State and a Green homer for the Seawolves, her second in two games. It was too little too late however, and Georgia State took the game 7-5.
In the second and final game of the day, the Seawolves were only able to generate three hits over the seven innings. The Kennesaw State Owls weren’t exactly tearing it up either, but four runs were enough to beat Stony Brook. It was a game that fell apart quickly for the Seawolves as they lost 4-0.
Sunday’s game was no better, with the SBU falling to Georgia Tech for the second time in three days. The Seawolves kept pace offensively, recording eight hits to the Yellow Jacket’s nine, but could not convert those hits into runs. Although the game was tied at 4 after five innings, a three-run homer from Alysha Rudnik in the bottom of the sixth clinched the game for Georgia Tech.
The softball team will travel to Charlotte, N.C. next weekend for the 49er Invite, matching up against Charlotte and Georgetown on Friday.
Catie Curatolo contributed to this report.
