Allison Cukrov pitched a complete game one shutout and Jane Sallen struck out a career-high 10 batters in game two, leading the Seawolves to a sweep over the Temple Owls in a doubleheader Wednesday afternoon at University Field.
“Any day you win two is a good day,” coach Megan Bryant said after the game.
Cukrov was helped by a lot of offense in game one, as the Seawolves were able to tag nine hits off Temple pitcher Kelsey Dominik. They were led by multi-hit games by Jessica Combs, Olivia Mintun and Bria Green who all were able to get two. Green and Jessica Zeilman also added three RBIs to pace the Seawolves.
The scoring started in the third, when Bria Green took a 1-0 pitch from Dominick and sent it over the center field wall for her ninth of the season, putting Stony Brook up 2-0.
Zeilman doubled the lead in the third when she roped a two-run single to right center, making the lead 4-0.
Melissa Phelan then scored later in the inning off a Bria Green single, and the Seawolves were rolling at this point, up 5-0 with three innings played.
Combs would then score on a passed ball, making it 6-0 in the fourth.
Cukrov was rolling at this point as well, as she retired eight in a row from the third to the fifth innings, two of these batters being strikeout victims.
After Giosia hit a sacrifice fly making it 7-0, Zeilman would reach on a walk-off fielder’s choice, scoring Mintun and winning the game for Stony Brook 8-0 by way of the mercy rule.
This was the fifth time of the season that Stony Brook won without going the full seven innings.
Game two had a completely separate vibe to it, with only three runs being scored and Mother Nature being a little more difficult as the wind picked up, sending many balls in different directions.
Stony Brook was also not able to muster up as many hits in game two, only compiling six.
“The pitcher was a little wild and the umpire was a little erratic,” Bryant said. “That makes it tough on a hitter.”
The wind took control of a Devynne Nelons line drive in the second, which gave Temple a 1-0 lead. The 0-1 pitch from Sallen looked as if it would be a normal line drive right at Green in center field. The wind, however, would carry it over the wall and give the Owls the lead for the first time in the doubleheader.
Stony Brook then rallied in the third to take the lead for good. Nicole Schieferstein sparked it, when she slapped a triple into left field after it took a weird bounce on the line and went to the corner. “She’s fast and she scraps when she’s in there,” Bryant said.
Combs would then drive her in with an RBI double down the same line, tying the game at one.
Zeilman would then score Combs two batters later with a sacrifice fly to right field, putting Stony Brook up for good 2-1.
The win extended Stony Brook’s win streak to 12, their longest since they put 15 wins together in 2009.
Sallen is now 9-7 on the season, and it was her seventh complete game of the year. Cukrov, meanwhile, threw her fourth shutout on the season. She is also tied with Angela Andrews for second on the school’s all-time wins list with 58.
The Seawolves will look to sweep another non-conference foe tomorrow, as they play host to Fairleigh Dickinson. First pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
