Stony Brook, NY - The SHU softball team put up eight runs in the second inning of a 12-2 victory to earn a split of a Wednesday afternoon double header against Stony Brook.  Nicole Sidor (West Vancouver, BC) struck out 12 batters and allowed one earned run to pick a win in her fifth consecutive appearance.  Liz Tsipouras (Simi Valley, CA) drove in four runs, including two on her fourth homer of 2011, as SHU surpassed ten runs for the third time this season.  The Seawolves picked up a 3-0 win in the opening game of the day behind a three-hit performance from Colleen Matthes.

Stony Brook (9-13) took a 1-0 edge in the second inning of game one with back-to-back two out hits.  The Seawolves padded the lead in the third as a Pioneer error allowed the home team to push across two unearned runs.   Melissa Tobin (Hudson, MA) started the SHU third inning with a single and immediately stole her away into scoring position.  However, she would be one of the Pioneers seven runners left on base as Stony Brook picked up a 3-0 victory.  Matthes' solid effort in the circle made the Seawolves the first team this season to register a shutout over the Pioneers.

Sacred Heart (13-11) started out hot in game two, putting together four straight singles to notch the first run.  The Seawolves were able to escape the frame and limit the damage to just a single run.  Sidor struck out the first two Stony Brook batters she faced but SBU again rallied with two down, pushing across a single marker to knot the game at 1-1.  The Pioneers loaded the base paths to start the second inning as Erin McAndrews (Marblehead, MA) and Marissa Montemagni (Chicopee, MA) drew walks followed by Taylor Froelich (Garden Grove, CA) being hit by a pitch.

Jade Bowins (Frederick, MD) singled to make it 2-1 while Courtney Lee (Camarillo, CA) and Tsipouras each drew a bases loaded RBI walk.  A pair of Stony Brook fielding errors directly led to three more Pioneer runs to extend the advantage to 7-1.  McAndrews and Froelich both supplied a run scoring single in their second at-bat of the inning.  Sacred Heart sent 13 batters to the plate and scored eight runs to take a commanding 9-1 lead.  Sidor retired the side in order in the bottom of the inning and added to her impressive strikeout total, now averaging 10.75 K's per seven innings this year.

Tsipouras followed a leadoff single from Lee in the third inning with a homer to right field, moving the score line to 11-1.  Sacred Heart got its 12th and final run in the fourth frame on a wild pitch from the Seawolves' hurler.  Stony Brook's lone unearned score in the fifth was not enough to end the game at 12-2 via the run rule.

The SHU softball team returns to action this weekend in a Northeast Conference double header against Monmouth.  First pitch is set for 1:00 pm inside Pioneer Park.