Thursday, May 7, 2009
STONY BROOK Softball Places Record Number on All-Conference Teams; Bryant Named Coach of the Year
Six Seawolves named to All-Conference Teams
Fanelli, a four-time America East All-Conference selection, earned first team honors for the first time in her career. A two-time second team member and all-rookie team selection her freshman year, she leads the conference in runs scored during America East games. She is posting career best numbers in: batting average (.362), runs scored (42), doubles (12), RBI (31), slugging percentage (.570) and steals (18-18).
Fleury is a two-time first team selection, earning the honor last season at first base as well. The senior is second in the America East in home runs (13) and slugging percentage (.729) and leads the conference in RBI per game (0.85). She recently recorded her 200th career hit and leads the Seawolves with a .988 fielding percentage this season.
Earning her third career all-conference honor, Kavitsky is a first team selection for the first time in her career. Kavitsky has paced the Seawolves powerful offense all season, leading the team in batting average (.379), on base percentage (.463), runs scored (45), hits (58) and triples (3). The shortstop has hit for average and power out of the leadoff spot this season, ranking second on the team in home runs with eight.
Struzenberg earns her second-straight first team selection after winning 21 regular season games for the Seawolves. She ranks second in the conference in strikeouts per game (9.49) while holding opposing batters to a .192 batting average. The junior tossed 18 complete games including six shutouts.
Oberto and Blumenthal are both first-time all conference selections. Oberto is fourth on the team with a .341 batting average while driving in a career-best 31 RBI. An All-Championship team selection last season, she ranks third in the conference in RBI during America East games with 20. Her seven home runs this season are three more than she had hit previously in her entire career. Blumenthal is also having a career season, posting personal bests in every offensive category. Filling the designated player slot for most of the season, she has been key to the Seawolves success, ranking fifth on the team in RBI with 26.
After leading the Seawolves to a school best 35 overall wins and 15 conference victories, Bryant becomes the first coach in school history to earn Coach of the Year honors. SBU has already broken school records in single-season RBI (227), runs scored (246), doubles (77) and steals (74) and could break a few more during the America East Championships later this week.
Top seeded Stony Brook will face No. 4 UMBC on Thursday at 1:00 p.m. in the first round of the Championship which is being held at University Field.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Dear Colleague:
I am very pleased to report that on Tuesday, May 5, our next President, Dr. Samuel L. Stanley Jr., will be visiting Stony Brook for a press conference at which we will formally introduce him. Joined by his family, Dr. Stanley will spend the day starting the process of getting acclimated to his new home.
I am also pleased to tell you that on that day, Trustees from the State University of New York will be on campus to conduct a meeting at which we fully and confidently predict that the selection of Dr. Stanley will be ratified. We are most appreciative of SUNY’s invaluable assistance during the seven-month search process and particularly want to thank SUNY Chair Carl T. Hayden, Chancellor-Elect Nancy L. Zimpher, and Vice Chancellor and Officer-in-Charge John J. O’Connor. I want to pay a special thanks to Chancellor-Elect Zimpher, who could not have been more supportive of our efforts as we conducted this most important search.
At 2:00 pm, after the SUNY board votes on Dr. Stanley’s nomination, there will be a press conference. Dr. Stanley’s opening remarks and the full press conference will be streamed live to the campus at the following locations:
Student Activities Center Auditorium
Health Sciences Center Lecture Hall 6
Stony Brook Southampton, Special Events Room in the Student Center
The 2:00 p.m. press conference can be accessed athttps://tlt.stonybrook.edu/webcast/Pages/default.aspx
This is only the first of several visits Dr. Stanley will make to campus as he prepares for his official start date of July 1. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Stanley and his family to Stony Brook as we begin a new chapter in the life of our great University.
Sincerely,
Richard T. NastiChair, Presidential Search CommitteeChair, Stony Brook Council
Please note that this schedule is subject to change. For updates, visit the University Web site at http://www.stonybrook.edu/ .
In addition, a live Webcast of the public portion of the 1:00 p.m. SUNY Board of Trustees meeting can be accessed by following the link at http://www.suny.edu/ .
Saturday, May 2, 2009
STONY BROOK SOFTBALL CLINCHES AMERICA EAST REGULAR SEASON TITLE
Softball Has Record Setting Day Against Albany
Stony Brook, N.Y. - Stony Brook University's softball team secured the top seed for the 2009 America East Championship with a split against Albany on Saturday afternoon. The Seawolves won game one, 5-0, before dropping the second tilt, 2-0. Stony Brook now has 34 overall wins on the season, breaking the previous school record which they set last year. With a 14-5 record in the America East, the Seawolves also clinched at least a tie of the regular season conference title, a first in program history. SBU also secured itself at least two more home games, as it will now host the America East Championships which begin on Thursday.
Stony Brook's offense flexed its muscles against one of the top pitchers in the America East, hitting three home runs in game one off Albany's Leah McIntosh. Senior Kelly Oberto (Spring Lake Heights, N.J.) hit a pair of two-run homers and junior Vicki Kavitsky (Cherry Hill, N.J.) hit a solo-shot.
In both the second and fourth innings senior Marissa Fleury (Mahopac, N.Y.) led things off for the Seawolves with singles, the second of which was Fleury's 200th career hit. Oberto would follow both of those at-bats with home runs. The first was to center field and the second to left.
Kavitsky knocked her home run over the center field fence with one out in the third. Her home run was Stony Brook's 215th RBI of the season, breaking the previous school record which was set in 2006. In scoring her 43rd run of the season, Kavitsky tied Kristen Brust '05 for the second-most runs scored in a single season.
Junior Alyssa Struzenberg (Cooper City, Fla.) allowed only three hits, but had to battle for the complete-game win as Albany put runners on base in every inning but one. Albany's best scoring opportunity came in the fifth inning when Meagan Butsch tried to score from second on a single, but sophomore right fielder Brijette Martin (New York, N.Y.) cut her down at the plate for the third out of the inning. Struzenberg struck out eight while picking up her 20th win of the season.
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Stony Brook record two more hits than the Great Danes did in game two, but a two-run home run in the third was all Albany would need as it held on for the 2-0 win. A controversial call in the top of the sixth inning, in which Kavitsky was called out for leaving the base early while attempting to tag-up on a fly ball, ended the Seawolves best chance of scoring.
SBU and Albany will finish its three-game series on Sunday. With a win or a loss by Boston University to Binghamton the Seawolves will clinch the regular season title, but if Stony Brook loses and Boston wins the two teams will share the title.
Offense Tops Defense, 32-19, in Red-White Scrimmage
May 2, 2009
Stony Brook, N.Y. - Stony Brook University's football team wrapped up its spring practice with the annual red-white scrimmage at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Senior Stephan Towns (San Diego, Calif.), who had six receptions for 74 yards, caught two touchdowns to lead the white team to a 35-19 win. Defensively, the Seawolves were led by senior captain Tyler Santucci (New Kensington, Pa.), who totaled two sacks and an interception. Adding to the day's excitement, former Stony Brook running back Jimmy DiPietro '76 and senior running back Conte Cuttino (Uniondale, N.Y.) squared off in a bench press competition at halftime, which Cuttino won with a max of 300 pounds.
"Spring has a lot of different components and the score today doesn't matter," head coach Chuck Priore said. "The important thing is we learn discipline, we learn the fundamentals of how to get better as a team and do things the right way. From that perspective I'm pleased with our spring. Fundamentally we got better, we have a lot of work to do, but we don't have to play next Saturday so we have three months to look at who we are. We're looking forward to having a great season.
Defensively the red team looked sharp, forcing a three-and-out while picking up a point in a modified scoring system. On the next series, redshirt freshman Phillip Mayberry (Grand Rapids, Mich.) righted the Seawolves' offense with a nine-yard gain on his first carry. Two plays later, Mayberry rushed for 12 yards, but again the defense came through, allowing just six yards on the next three plays to force another punt.
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Senior Michael Coulter (Yorba Linda, Calif.) took his opportunity under center and completed his first four passes, but a holding penalty on the white team forced them to punt and a 3-2 lead for the red team. With the ball spotted at the 40-yard line, the offense began to click. On a third-and-six from the 44, Coulter found junior Michael Lepore (Brick, N.J.) for a 31-yard gain and a first down. Two plays later, Coulter and Lepore hooked up again, this time for a 10-yard completion to the 14. Clicking on third down, Coulter threw a ball up-for-grabs for Towns, who pulled it in for a touchdown. Redshirt freshman Wesley Skiffington (Brandon, Fla.) added the extra point for an 11-3 white team lead.
The offense continued to march down the field with Hoffman and Lepore connecting on a 46-yard play, resulting in a first down from the four. However, the defense stopped them, resulting in a 21-yard field goal from Skiffington.
Two drives later from their own 34 and with Coulter under center, he found redshirt freshmanJordan Gush (Richardson, Texas) for a 24-yard completion to the 42. After a Mayberry rush of five yards, Coulter connected with junior Donald Porter (Charles Town, W.V.) and Gush on pass plays of 17 and 11 yards, respectively,resulting in a pair of first downs to the 10 yards line. That was all the offensive would gain on that series as junior Chris Fenelon (Bellerose, N.Y.) sacked Coulter for a loss of six and senior Carl Teague (St. Petersburg, Fla.) intercepted a pass in the end zone and returned it to the six-yard line.
Starting from their own six, the white team moved the ball to the 13 with a seven-yard reception from Towns. But after a penalty for an illegal shift and an incomplete pass, Santucci sacked Hoffman in the end zone, resulting in a safety.
On the next series for the white team, Hoffman completed three straight passes for 34 yards after an initial one-yard rush from Mayberry. From the 39-yard line, Hoffman threw three straight incomplete passes, bringing up fourth down. But on fourth down, Hoffman scrambled to his left and threw the ball up for Towns, who jumped over senior Benjamin Clements(Glen Burnie, Md.) for the score. Skiffington connected on the point after to give the white team a 12-point advantage.
The rest of the first half saw the defense allow just two points on a pair of first downs. After a pair of penalties on the red team, the defense allowed just a pair of completions and forced an incompletion on fourth down to gain a point. On the final series of the half, Coulter drove the white team down the field including a 34-yard reception to senior Adrian Sawyer (Oakland, Calif.), who escaped a couple of tackles, going down at the 23. On the final play of the half, Santucci stepped in front of the receiver and picked off Coulter.
Senior Dan Sweeney (Niskayuna, N.Y.) began the third quarter at quarterback and completed 3-of-6 passes for 20 yards. On senior Matt Dardenne's (Fremont, Calif.) first pass, senior Chevar Rankins (Middletown, N.Y.) picked it off for the red team's third interception of the afternoon.
Hoffman finished the game 11-20 for 128 and a touchdown while Coulter was 16-25 for 178 and a touchdown and two interceptions. Along with a pair of touchdowns, Towns grabbed six balls for 74 yards. Lepore had five catches for 97 yards and Gush totaled six catches for 75 yards. On the ground, Mayberry carried the ball 11 times for 49 yards.
The defensive totaled five sacks on the day with sophomore Ryan Haber (Lafayette Hill, Pa.) and freshman Craig Richardson (Revere, Mass.) also adding sacks. Clements finished with a team-high five tackles and juniors Stephen Schwicke (East Patchogue, N.Y.) and Arin West (Toms River, N.J.) had four apiece.
The Stony Brook football team begins the 2009 season at Long Island rival Hofstra on Saturday, September 5.
For ticket information, go to www.goseawolves.org or call (631) 632-WOLF.