As the sun came out, so too did the bats of Stony Brook who won the series finale 10-1 in five innings over the UMass Lowell softball team at River View Field on Sunday.
 
Following a three hour rain delay, the River Hawks (7-23, 0-5 America East) were limited to one run on one hit by Seawolves (20-14, 10-1 America East) ace Allison Cukrov, who earned her 14th victory of the season.
 
"Believe it not, we're starting to play some really good softball even though we're on a five-game losing streak," said Head Coach Sean Cotter. "I said at the beginning of the weekend we could play really well and be 0-5, and I hate to be prophetic on that, but that's what it was, so we just have to continue to believe in what were doing and get better."
 
The Seawolves made the most of their opportunities and chased starter Marielle Handley (Durham, Conn.) from the game in the fourth inning with runners at the corners and a 2-0 lead. Freshman Lauren Ramirez (Dracut, Mass.) couldn't stop the bleeding as Stony Brook ended the inning with a 5-0 advantage.
 
SBU shut the door to any comeback hope with a five run fifth aided by two untimely errors and a passed ball by the River Hawks defense.
 
"Things didn't go our way today," said Cotter. "Things don't have to be perfect, but they have to line up for us pretty well, so if were going to make physical mistakes – which are going to happen – it makes it that much more difficult for us to win."
 
If the weekend series was a measuring stick between the newest member of the America East, and the 2013 conference tournament champion and current conference leader, the River Hawks still have work to do.
 
"Our goal against these teams in the America East is to sneak a game off them in the series, and we had that opportunity yesterday," said Cotter.
 
Cukrov held the River Hawks hitless heading into the fifth inning for the second consecutive day, but watched her no-hit bid fly over the fence in left center off a solo shot from junior catcher Melissa King (Stamford, Conn.)
 
The matchup between the clubs was originally scheduled for an 11 a.m. first pitch, but was pushed back due to the inclement weather conditions that created puddles and pushed the start time to 2:30 p.m.   The three and a half hour delay appeared to have no effect on either of the teams.
 
"I thought our energy was really good, I thought we were really aggressive at the plate even though we weren't necessarily rewarded for that," said Cotter. "We made some really good defensive plays early in the game and I thought both teams handled the delay fine."
 
The River Hawks will be back in action at River View Field Monday, April14th, for a doubleheader against Binghamton scheduled to start at 3 p.m.