After having all five opening games canceled last weekend, Stony Brook Softball traveled to Colorado in search of a delayed but successful start to its 2019 campaign. Instead, inclement weather washed three more ball-games from the Seawolves schedule at the Colorado State Classic, leaving the team with a pair of losses suffered on Friday, March 1. The double header with Idaho State and Colorado State resulted in 10-8 and 9-1 defeats, respectively, moving Stony Brook to 0-2 on the season.
Game one against the Idaho State Bengals was a high-scoring affair for both teams, with the Seawolves driving runs home in five out of seven innings and their opponents scoring in six innings. After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the first, Stony Brook responded with two runs of its own in five at bats for a 2-1 lead.
With the bases loaded, junior utility player Emma Bordenkecher doubled to left-center, scoring three and giving the Bengals a 4-2 lead. Idaho’s batters continued to connect at the plate throughout the game and the team never surrendered its growing lead.
Despite a five-run deficit, Stony Brook remained active in the contest and attempted a comeback in the seventh. Junior first baseman Melissa Rahrich blasted a two-run home run over the left field wall and senior catcher Irene Rivera connected with a solo shot of her own in the next at bat, making it a two-run game. However, a comeback was not in the cards for the Seawolves as they fell 10-8.
The second game of the day was a more lopsided affair. Colorado got on the board first with three runs in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back. Freshman infielder Taylor Juenke scored her first run for Stony Brook on junior catcher Jordyn Nowakowski’s second-inning double, but the team’s offense went quiet from that point on.
The Rams recorded a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth before putting the game away with four more in the fourth inning to take a 9-1 lead. The Seawolves’ failure to score in the top of the fifth inning brought the game to an early forfeit.
“We swung the bats well in game one and that was great to see for our first game of the season,” head coach Megan T. Bryant said in a press release. “CSU is a very balanced team with quality wins and a lot of games played. We have some good takeaways from today and it’s all about improving day to day.”
The Seawolves will look for their first win of the season when they play in the Florida Atlantic Parents Weekend Tournament, beginning with a game against the Yale Bulldogs on Friday, March 8 at 1:30 p.m. followed by Florida Atlantic at 8:15 p.m.
