SBU Sports: Softball drops pair of games against Mercer and Illinois at Roar City Invitational
Stony Brook softball fell in a pair of neutral site contests against Mercer and Illinois on day one of the Roar City Invitational in Nashville, Tennessee on Feb. 14.
GAME ONE: MERCER 9, STONY BROOK 6
Gabrielle Maday drew the start in the circle for game one, stranding a pair of runners to toss a scoreless first inning.
Madelyn Stepski and Alyssa Costello reached base in the first inning for Stony Brook, but were left on base.
Mercer opened the scoring in the second inning, pushing a run across with a two-out single. The Bears first two runners reached base, but a line-drive double play neutralized the early threat. A stolen base and single with two outs put Stony Brook in a 1-0 hole, but Maday stranded two more runners to limit the damage.
After the Seawolves were retired in order in the second, Mercer added four more runs in the third.
Jordyn Fray took to the circle to start the fourth inning, tossing a clean inning.
Stony Brook got on the board in the fourth courtesy of a Mia Vannelli run-scoring single, adding another on an Emily Reinstein ground out.
The Seawolves trimmed the deficit further, making it a 5-3 game after Emma Scheitinger plated a run on a fielder’s choice in the fifth.
Mercer got two runs back in the sixth inning, chasing Fray from the game. Crimson Rice finished the inning for Stony Brook, leaving a pair of inherited runners on the bases.
Stony Brook did not go quietly, adding three runs in the home half of the sixth to make it a one-run game. Marissa Thalassinos pushed a run across on a two-out, infield single and Kyra McFarland followed with a two-run double. McFarland represented the tying run, moving up to third base on the throw, but was stranded there to end the frame.
Mercer tacked on two more runs, both with two outs, and ultimately closed out the 9-6 victory, despite Stony Brook’s resilience offensively. The Seawolves brought Naiah Ackerman to the plate in the final frame, but came up just short.
GAME TWO: ILLINOIS 8, STONY BROOK 0 (5 INNINGS)
The Fighting Illini jumped all over Stony Brook, scoring seven runs in the first inning.
Illinois scored seven runs on four hits and were aided by a pair of Stony Brook miscues in the field.
The Seawolves registered just three hits in the five-inning contest, with two of them coming in the second inning. Reinstein and Thalassinos reached base in the frame, but were stranded in scoring position.
Fray relieved Maddie Male in the second inning, throwing a pair of scoreless innings before conceding a run in the fourth.
The Seawolves went down in order in the fifth to enact the run rule.
“Tough day for us against two very good teams. It was disappointing that we didn’t play better,” head coach Megan T. Bryant said. “It takes what it takes, and we need to be better in all three parts of our game.”
UP NEXT
Feb. 15 games at the Roar City Invitational have been canceled. Stony Brook will return to action on Feb. 16.
