The Stony Brook softball team split its doubleheader with Sacred Heart on Wednesday, winning the first game 3-0 and losing the second game 12-2.
In the first game, senior Colleen Matthes (Severn, Md.) picked up the victory by throwing seven shutout innings and only giving up three hits, along with eight strikeouts.
Stony Brook got help offensively from junior Bernadette Tenuto (Audubon, N.J.) and sophomore Gina Bianculli (Oakdale, N.Y.). Bianculli brought in the Seawolves first run in the second inning on a double to left-center. Tenuto added two insurance runs in the bottom half of the third inning with a double of her own.
In the top of the fifth inning junior Suzanne Karath (Fishkill, N.Y.) threw a runner out at the plate to preserve the shutout for Matthes.
“She did ok,” Seawolves head coach Megan Bryant said. “Got out of some jams, partly because of her, partly because of the defense. Our defense was good in the first game.”
The second game did not go so smoothly for the Seawolves. Sacred Heart scored a run in the top of the first inning off of freshman Alexandra Clark (Warsaw, Va.). Clark was able to battle back with the bases loaded and only allowed that run to keep it at 1-0.
Stony Brook tied the game at one in the bottom half of the first inning, as sophomore Taylor Chain (Gloucester, N.J.) brought in freshman Jessica Combs (Hammonton, N.J.).
Sacred Heart scored eight runs in the top of the second inning and knocked Clark from the game during it. Chain was brought in, but she was just as ineffective.
The Pioneers added two more runs in the third inning off of a Liz Tsipouras two-run home run. Sacred Heart also scored in the top of the fourth inning off of an error, a few singles, and a wild pitch.
Stony Brook added another run in the bottom half of the fifth inning, but it did not keep them from being mercied. Karath led off with a single, was moved over on a single, an scored on an error.
Bryant was fuming after the mercy loss. “We are not happy with this split,” she said. “We were awful in this second game.”
Stony Brook will take on Iona for a doubleheader at home on Thursday.
