The Stony Brook softball team traveled up to Maine for a weekend series to face the Maine Black Bears. Playing a doubleheader on Saturday that required extra innings to decide one game, as well as a Sunday matinee, the Seawolves were unable to find a win.

Game One: Maine 4, Stony Brook 3

This was the first of two extra inning games the Seawolves played on Saturday and it did not go in Stony Brook’s favor. Freshman pitcher Melissa Rahrich pitched a complete game, giving up a season high 16 hits and four runs. Rahrich eventually gave up the game winning hit to junior Faythe Goins, who hit a single down the right field line to give the Black Bears a 4-3 win.

Sophomore catcher Irene Rivera drove in all three runs for Stony Brook in game one. In the first inning, Rivera sent a three-run home run over the fence to give the Seawolves an early 3-0 lead, her fourth home run of the year.

Stony Brook led all the way until the fifth inning, when Maine tied the game. Rahrich gave up three singles to sophomores Alyssa Derrick, Meghan Royle and Maddie Decker in the bottom of the inning to help the Black Bears tie the game at three. The game came down the bottom of the seventh inning, when Maine scored the game-winning run off of Goins’ single to take the first game of the doubleheader by a score of 4-3. 

Game Two: Maine 3, Stony Brook 2

The Seawolves lost the second game of their doubleheader Saturday afternoon in the same fashion they lost their first game: via a game-winning hit. Sophomore pitcher Lindsey Hughes, who relieved sophomore pitcher Maddy Neales in the third inning, wound up relinquishing the game-winning hit in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Neales gave up two runs within the first three innings. She gave up a walk with the bases loaded to junior Kristen Niland in the first, then gave up a solo home run in the third inning to Derrick in the third.

Rivera hit a single up the middle that brought home sophomore outfielder Katelyn Corr in the third inning to cut the score to 2-1. Rivera was the main source of offense throughout the weekend, as she drove in four of the five total runs the Seawolves put up through the weekend.

Then in the fourth inning, senior outfielder Sami Duffy was able to tie the score after she hit a single and advanced to third base by error. The error by Maine allowed junior infielder Chelsea Evans to cross home plate and tie the game.  

With Hughes still in the game, Maine had a chance to win in the seventh. Junior outfielder Erika Leonard made it to third base with two outs in the inning, but Hughes managed to force a fly out, ending the inning.

The game would go into the eighth inning, but the Seawolves would fall victim once again. In the bottom of the eighth, Hughes gave up a single to right field that scored freshman midfielder Emily Gilmore to win the game, 3-2.

Game Three: Maine 8, Stony Brook 0

Rahrich was back on the mound for the Seawolves for their Sunday matinee. However, the start ended up being the shortest start of her Stony Brook career. The freshman only pitched one and one-third innings, while surrendering six earned runs on four hits in the process.

Freshman Jourdin Hering was the lone bright spot for the Stony Brook offense, as she recorded two of the team’s four hits on the day. Senior infielder Lexie Shue and freshman infielder Allyssa Malony were the only two Seawolves to record hits in the game.

Senior pitcher Erin Bogdanovich was able to keep the Stony Brook offense at bay, pitching a five inning shutout, giving up four hits and fanning a season high seven batters.

The Black Bears got on the board quickly in the third and final game of the series, scoring eight runs in only the first two innings. The runs came off the bat of Derrick, whose three-run homerun to center field established a 3-0 score. The next home run came from Leonard, who smacked another three-run home run in the second inning, giving Maine a comfortable six run lead early in the game and bringing the score to 6-0 early.

Senior shortstop Felicia Lennon doubled to bring home the final two runs, putting the nail in the Seawolves’ coffin. Maine completed the sweep by taking the final game of the series 8-0 in five innings.