Boston, Mass. - The Stony Brook softball team took two out of three games from conference rival Boston University this weekend with a split on Sunday in Boston, Mass. After a 1-0 victory on Saturday, the Seawolves won the second game by a score of 4-3, but fell in the final game of the weekend, 8-3.
Freshman Allison Cukrov (Irvine, Calif.) picked up her 11th win in game two with another complete-game performance. Cukrov had her 29-inning shutout streak snapped in the bottom of the third as the Terriers pushed a run across, but the Seawolves (20-8, 5-1 America East) fought back to claim Sunday's opener in dramatic fashion.
With the score knotted at 2-2 in the top of the seventh, senior Lauren Maloney (Las Vegas, Nev.) smashed a two-run homer, her fourth long-ball of the year, to put the visitors ahead by two.
But Boston University (20-11, 4-2 America East) would not go quietly as Amy Ekart singled in a run in the bottom of the frame to make it 4-3. With runners at first and second and one out, Cukrov buckled down and forced a ground-out and a fly-out to end the game in Stony Brook's favor.
Each team recorded six hits in the game with Maloney (2-for-4) and senior Suzanne Karath (3-for-4) accounting for five of the Seawolves' six knocks in the contest. The victory was Stony Brook's 20th of the year, which equals the amount the Seawolves had all of last season (20-29). The team has now won at least 20 games in all 12 seasons under the direction of head coach Megan Bryant.
The final game of the weekend turned quickly in BU's favor as the Terriers grabbed an 8-0 lead through three innings. Stony Brook chiseled away with two runs in the fourth courtesy of a Nicole Hagerty (Sicklerville, N.J.) two-run homer, and added another in the sixth when sophomore Jessica Combs (Hammonton, N.J.) hit a sac-fly to score senior Bernadette Tenuto (Audubon, N.J.).
 |
Stony Brook could get no closer, however, as BU pitcher Erin Schuppert closed out the game to pick up her fourth victory of the season. Seawolves' starter Taylor Chain (Gloucester, N.J.) was saddled with the defeat.
The Seawolves will return home to play a single game against Long Island University on Tuesday at 4 p.m.
