UMBC

Emily Thompson blasted two home runs against Stony Brook.

BALTIMORE—Senior right fielder Emily Thompson (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Falls) hit a pair of home runs, but the UMBC softball team (15-9, 0-2 AE) dropped both games of its America East Conference-opening doubleheader to Stony Brook (12-8, 2-0 AE) Saturday afternoon at UMBC Softball Stadium. The Seawolves won the first game, 6-1, then took the nightcap, 7-2.

Game 1: Stony Brook 6, UMBC 1

Stony Brook second baseman Katelyn O’Donnell led off the third inning with a home run to make it 1-0, but the Seawolves broke the game open with five runs in the fourth despite getting just one hit in the inning.

The Retrievers cracked the scoreboard in the bottom of the frame on Thompson’s leadoff homer, but it was the only run UMBC would get.

Stony Brook starter Alyssa Struzenberg (9-4) earned the complete game victory, allowing just one run on four hits and striking out eight in seven innings. UMBC junior hurler Stephanie Weigman (Elkridge, Md./Archbishop Spalding) suffered the loss after giving up six runs (five earned) on two hits and six walks while striking out five in four innings. Freshman Heather Brown (Pasadena, Md./Northeast) tossed three scoreless innings in relief, allowing just two hits while striking out three.

Game 2: Stony Brook 7, UMBC 2

Stony Brook designated player Casey Jacobs gave the Seawolves an early 3-0 lead with a one-out homer in the first, and back-to-back doubles in the third inning by third baseman Bernadette Tenuto and Jacobs made it 4-0. The visitors then took a 7-0 lead with three more runs in the fourth.

A one-out solo shot by Thompson in the bottom of the fourth was the Retrievers’ first hit of the game, and UMBC could not score again until the bottom of the seventh on a two-out RBI double by senior third baseman Amanda Fefel (Baltimore, Md./Catonsville).

Fefel (2-2) suffered the loss after allowing four runs on six hits in 2.1 innings, while Brown gave up three runs on three hits over the final 4.2 innings in relief. Stony Brook starter Colleen Matthes (2-3) earned the victory after giving up one run on three hits and four walks in five innings, while Jacobs closed it out, surrendering one run on three hits over the final two frames.

The teams meet again in the series finale Sunday at 12 p.m. at UMBC Softball Stadium.