Piscataway, N.J. - The Stony Brook softball team used a six-run seventh inning to slip past Rutgers, 7-6, on Tuesday evening in Piscataway, N.J. Senior Colleen Matthes worked around 17 walks to earn her 10th win of the season. The scheduled second game was canceled due to darkness.
The Scarlet Knights (18-23) appeared to have the game in hand with a 5-1 lead going into the final inning, but Stony Brook (14-21) had other plans. Freshman Jessica Combs (Hammonton, N.J.) singled in sophomore Taylor Chain (Gloucester, N.J.) and junior Bernadette Tenuto (Audubon, N.J.) to start the rally and trim the deficit to 5-3. Combs took third on the play courtesy of an error and scored shortly after on a single by freshman Elise Fortier (Coventry, R.I.). Following a walk, sophomore Shannon O'Shea (Lake Worth, Fla.) blasted a double to right-center, bringing in Fortier to tie the game at 5-5. Juniors Suzanne Karath (Fishkill, N.Y.) and Lauren Maloney (Las Vegas, Nev.) then produced back-to-back singles to left to bring around two more runs, putting Stony Brook ahead, 7-5.
Rutgers pulled a run back when Matthes issued four two-out walks in the bottom of the seventh, but the senior was able to induce a bases-loaded line-out to center to end the game.
Stony Brook scored its first run of the game in the top of the first when Maloney led off with a single and eventually scored on a wild pitch. Maloney finished the game 2-for-4 and was one of five Seawolves to record two hits on the day. Matthes' 17 walks were a career high, but the pitcher was able to stem the damage at critical moments and keep the Seawolves in the game.
Fortier, who was named the America East Rookie of the Week earlier in the day, finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run.
Stony Brook will return to action on Thursday when it hosts Iona for a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m.
