ETHAN TAM/THE STATESMAN
The Stony Brook softball team advanced to the title game of the 2021 America East Softball Championship, falling just short of a ring to a familiar foe. The third-seeded Seawolves lost two games against No. 1 seed UMBC, who took home its second consecutive title both against Stony Brook. The Seawolves also won two games against Albany in the double-elimination tournament but had no answer for the best pitcher in the conference.
UMBC junior Courtney Coppersmith, the America East Pitcher of the Year, allowed one run in three playoff starts. She threw a 1-0 shutout in Saturday’s decisive game, securing the victory even though Stony Brook senior Dawn Bodrug pitched a one-hitter.
SARA RUBERG/THE STATESMAN
The Stony Brook softball team has hit poorly with runners in scoring position for most of the season, but has consistently found ways to win regardless. This Saturday and Sunday, their struggles finally caught up to them when they were swept by the Albany Great Danes in a three-game road series; the Seawolves were outscored 11-3 despite outhitting Albany 21-17.
The trio of losses dropped Stony Brook to 9-4 in-conference and into a first-place tie with the UMBC Retrievers, who swept the Maine Black Bears this weekend. The Seawolves conclude their regular season next weekend at home against UMBC in a series that will now determine the America East champion.
SARA RUBERG/THE STATESMAN
Senior Dawn Bodrug is in the midst of perhaps the greatest pitching season in Stony Brook Softball’s history, with 174 strikeouts in 109 innings. Her ERA currently sits at 1.28, which would be the best in the America East since 2005 if the season ended today.
Bodrug’s 174 strikeouts are already the eighth most in a single season, and she has reached that mark while pitching far fewer innings than everyone above her on the leaderboard. The current single season Stony Brook strikeout record was set by Stephanie Poetzsch in 2002 with 282.
It is unknown how many more games Bodrug will pitch in, but she is currently striking out 1.60 batters per inning. Needing 109 more strikeouts to break Poetzsch’s record, Bodrug’s current pace would see her accomplish that in roughly 68 more innings more than are currently available in the regular season, barring five innings of extra inning play.