The softball team fell in both games of Saturday’s home doubleheader against Stony Brook University, with each game shaped by a single explosive inning that allowed the Seawolves to break away for mercy rule victories.
Game one of the contest saw the Leopards (1-5 Patriot League, 8-26 overall) allow Stony Brook (13-20 overall) to load the bases in the top of the first inning, but freshman pitcher Andy Hegarty came in clutch with three strikeouts.
Stony Brook made quick business of the Leopard at-bats, securing three straight outs. In the second inning, despite a double from senior infielder Kylee Sweet, the hosts could not put any runs on the board.
“Those timely hits will eventually come,” Sweet said. “Just trusting the process and believing that if we continue to hit the ball, just a matter of time before we have that timely hitting to get those runs across.”
Both teams were quiet in the third inning, but the Seawolves finally got a runner home in a three-hit fourth inning.
The Leopards again went scoreless in the fourth, and the Seawolves started steamrolling, lighting up the Leopards with a seven-run inning. Three more consecutive outs for the Maroon and White, and it was a mercy rule 8-0 ending in favor of the visitors.
“Not letting one error get to us or one hit,” said senior outfielder Olivia Catalina. “We just need to stay calm, stay composed, stay true to ourselves.”
Catalina made a statement play to start game two of the out-of-conference match, laying out for a catch on the opening at-bat and jump-starting the defense’s march to three quick outs.
“I wanted to come out strong this game because I think last game, there were some opportunities where I could have dove and I didn’t,” Catalina said. “I didn’t want to leave anything to chance, and I know I can catch those balls if I just go for it.”
Sophomore infielder Caroline Hall kicked things off with a lead-off single, and junior infielder Katie Harrington and senior infielder Dani Rosner followed by reaching as well. Still, the Seawolves struck out Sweet to halt the rally.
The Leopards stayed sharp defensively, limiting the Seawolves to a lone hit over the opening four innings.
“Keeping the ball low off the plate, just feeding my defense, and they were doing a hell of a job back there,” said sophomore pitcher Sophia Alvarez-Backus, who pitched 5.1 innings in the contest.
At the bottom of the fourth, the Maroon and White offense found signs of life, getting bases loaded opportunities, but the Leopards failed to pull through with a timely hit.
“We had a couple of unfortunate outs there with the bases loaded, so just making sure we stick to our plan and just really think about putting the ball in play,” Sweet said.
A quiet fifth inning left the game 0-0 heading into the sixth inning. There, the hosts suffered from deja vu, falling victim to another offensive onslaught from the Seawolves in a 10-run inning, which included a grand slam.
“It was a little bit hard to come back after a couple errors,” Alvarez-Backus said. “I was trying to do a little too much. They were able to capitalize off that, just making sure, moving forward, we’re able to answer back and get that momentum back.”
The Leopards finally entered the score column in a box-score dressing the back half of the inning. Despite outhitting Stony Brook 9-7, the Leopards fell in a 10-1 mercy rule ending.
Staying at home, the Maroon and White take on Bucknell University (2-4 Patriot League, 5-26-1 overall) in a three-game series this weekend, and a doubleheader against St. Peter’s University (5-25 overall) on Wednesday.