SBU Sports: Softball edged out by Delaware in series finale

Stony Brook softball lost to the University of Delaware, 2-1, on March 16 in Newark, Del. The Seawolves moved to 2-4 in CAA play, suffering a sweep at the hands of the Blue Hens.

Delaware struck first in the opening frame, but scored just once and stranded the bases loaded. Crimson Rice allowed a two-out single that scored a run, then after an error and a walk, she produced a ground ball to escape an early jam.

Madelyn Stepski led off the second inning with a triple, scoring later in the inning when Emma Scheitinger drove her in.

Stony Brook was poised to tack on more in the third inning, but Delaware turned to Billie Kerwood for the third straight day. Kerwood stymied the Seawolves’ offense for the third time in as many days.

Entering with runners on the corners and nobody out, Kerwood walked Naiah Ackerman on four pitches to dig a deeper hole. The Seawolves couldn’t capitalize however, as a ground ball forced out the lead runner at the plate and the next two hitters were punched out by Kerwood to leave the bases juiced.

Kerwood kept Stony Brook’s offense at bay, striking out nine of the next 12 hitters she faced and giving her offense a chance to take a lead.

The Blue Hens would gain an advantage in the scoring column in the bottom of the sixth after a lead-off double and a single through the middle.

Gabrielle Maday, who re-entered to replace Rice after the double, recorded all three outs in the sixth inning and limited the damage to just the one run.

Kyra McFarland and Ackerman both hit safely with Stony Brook down to its final out in the contest, but Kerwood notched her 11th strikeout to strand the tying and go-ahead runs on base and secure the sweep.