Stony Brook Softball opened up its season in Charlotte, North Carolina, winning two of five games in the Charlotte 49er Invitational. Senior pitcher Jane Sallen started three of the five games, picking up two wins in the team’s opening tournament.
Senior catcher Allie Pisciotta had a strong performance throughout the weekend, batting .533 with two RBIs. She notched her first home run of the season in the first game, a 3-1 win against St. Joseph’s.
The season opener was the best overall performance for the Seawolves. Sallen pitched a complete-game gem, giving up just one run on five hits. The senior also struck out four batters and walked three. Stony Brook had RBIs from Pisciotta and senior third baseman Patty Borges.
The lone run for the Hawks came on a one-out solo home run in the sixth inning by junior catcher Kaylyn Zierke. The St. Joseph’s bats were completely shut down otherwise.
Game five of the weekend, a rematch with St. Joseph’s, was a tightly-contested matchup. But Stony Brook was able to come out on top by a score of 3-2 thanks to a sixth-inning, go-ahead pinch-hit RBI from freshman infielder Lindsey Hughes. Sallen got the nod, and she did not disappoint when it mattered most. With runners on first and second with two outs, Sallen got Hawks freshman first baseman Abigail Stroud to strike out swinging to end the game. Pisciotta had another big game, going 3-for-3 including a double.
The middle three games were less fortunate for the Seawolves, as Stony Brook lost to Charlotte twice and Presbyterian once by scores of 10-1, 5-0 and 8-2, respectively. Sophomore pitcher Maddy Neales started the second game of the weekend in the circle, allowing seven runs in just 2.1 innings of work. However, her play improved in a relief appearance against Presbyterian, giving up only two runs in five innings pitched.
Stony Brook’s offense was almost entirely blanked by Charlotte pitching, scoring just one run in two games against the 49ers. The Seawolves left nine runners on base, failing to capitalize on good opportunities throughout both games.
The only run scored by Stony Brook against Charlotte came in the top of the fourth inning in the first meeting with a solo home run off the bat of senior first baseman Melissa Phelan.
Senior pitcher Alex Petrolia, a transfer student from UNLV, started in the circle against Presbyterian. She walked two and struck out one batter in her first appearance as a Seawolf. Neales relieved her after two-plus innings, in which Petrolia gave up three runs on five hits.
Stony Brook will return to action this weekend in South Florida for the Florida Atlantic University Tournament, playing five games Friday through Sunday. The team will play Michigan State, Florida Atlantic, Boston University, Columbia and Maryland.
