With the crack of her bat in the fifth inning, junior pitcher/first baseman Melissa Rahrich cemented her name among Seawolf greats. The junior’s double in the second game of Stony Brook’s doubleheader against the Manhattan Jaspers tied the record for the most RBIs in a single season at 52.
Her record-setting hit capped off a terrific performance on the diamond. Rahrich went 4-6 on the day with two home runs and four RBIs while pitching a complete seven innings with five strikeouts in the second game as Stony Brook defeated Manhattan 8-3 and 6-0, respectively.
Head coach Megan Bryant complimented her team’s execution in both games.
“These were two good team wins today and we were solid in all three facets of our game,” Bryant said in a press release.
In the first game, Rahrich hit the first of her two home runs to put the Seawolves up 2-0 in the bottom of the first.
The Jaspers answered back just half an inning later when sophomore left fielder Emma Kindblom hit her own two-run home run off freshman pitcher Shelbi Denman to tie the score at 2-2. But these were the only earned runs she allowed, after junior infielder Riley Craig drove in a run in the bottom of the third, Denman pitched a complete game with a lead at her back.
Junior catcher Jordyn Nowakowski’s double scored two more in the third to put the Seawolves up 5-2.
The Seawolves dominated the second game from start to finish. They scored three runs in the first inning courtesy of singles from senior catcher Irene Rivera and freshman catcher Chloe Vangorder. Rahrich drove in the next two runs with a home run in the third and a double in the fifth, while junior pitcher/first baseman Taylor Pechin capped off the scoring with a home run.
Rahrich allowed five hits but no runs in seven innings pitched to pick up her 14th win of the year, placing her third in the America East. This was her fourth complete game shutout of the season.
Stony Brook then kept their momentum rolling in a doubleheader against the University of Maine on Friday, May 3 and Saturday, May 4. The Seawolves won the first matchup, 7-3. The second game was moved to Saturday at 11 p.m., while game three was played at 1 p.m. The Seawolves took a split on the day, losing game two of the series 7-3 but winning the series and season closer, 5-0.
For the first five innings of game one, the Seawolves coasted, due in large part to Rahrich’s play on the mound and in the batter’s box. A third inning two-run home run, her 16th on the season, followed by a fourth-inning RBI single raised the score to 6-0 Stony Brook. The home run by Rahrich in the third drove in senior outfielder Katelyn Corr, for her second run scored of the day. Corr took over sole possession of #1 in program history in runs scored in a single season with 48, ahead of outfielder Stephanie DiBiase with 47 in 2003. With two more games in the series, Corr looked to add on even more.
Rahrich increased her record to 15-11 on the season after pitching seven innings while giving up eight hits, three runs and no walks while striking out five.
Game two of the series saw the Seawolves lose their momentum. Heading into the bottom of the fourth, tied at three, Denman gave up a leadoff solo home run to the Bearcats. Following the home run, Bryant replaced Denman with Pechin. Rivera hit her ninth home run of the season in the loss and Corr scored two more runs.
Stony Brook closed out the series and season in a dominant fashion, winning 5-0. Rahrich got the starting nod once again — pitching her second straight complete game — and finished the season with a 16-11 record. Rahrich picked up her 17th home run of the season in Saturday’s game, while Corr scored another two runs, bringing her season total and the new school record of runs scored in a season to 52.
“We didn’t do enough in the first game today to help ourselves win, but we did respond well to play our game in game two and win the series,” Bryant said in a press release. “Mel threw a great game; our offense was productive and our defense was excellent. It’s a good way to finish the regular season and we look forward to the America East Tournament next week.”
With the win, the Seawolves finished the regular season 11-7 in conference play and 29-17 overall. The #3 seeded Seawolves look forward to an America East Championship Tournament game versus #6 seeded Binghamton in Hartford, Connecticut at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 8.
