Solari, Tufano, and Fitzpatrick (l-r) all took honors this week
After what was a busy week at the softball and baseball diamonds, the College of Staten Island has taken home a trio of weekly laurels from the City University of New York Athletic Conference. Junior Stefanie Solari took top weekly honors as the CUNYAC’s Player of the Week, while frosh Christina Tufano collected Rookie of the Week honors. Meanwhile, CSI baseball hurler Michael Fitzpatrick won his first career honor, taking home the conference’s Pitcher of the Week citation.
The CSI Softball squad impressed this week, posting a 6-2 record that included a pair of weekend sweeps over St. Joseph’s College (Brooklyn) and CUNYAC-rival Brooklyn College. Solari was a catalyst over the stretch, hitting safely in seven straight games, posting a monster .520 batting average in what was a 13-for-25 performance at the dish. The junior scattered 11 RBI on the week, and boasted an .840 slugging percentage, including three doubles, a triple, and her first homerun of 2013. Solari was also walked three times, and scored 50 put-outs and an assist next to zero errors in the field.
To finalize her week, Solari saw a pair of appearances in the pitcher’s circle, including a pair of relief innings in CSI’s 15-3 win over SJC on Saturday. For the season, Solari leads the Dolphins in batting average at .481 and also leads the squad in hits (25), triples (4), RBI (17), slugging percentage (.769), and fielding put-outs with 94, adding three assists and a team best .990 fielding percentage. Despite only pitching 15.2 innings this season, the junior has an 0-1 record with 6.70 ERA in the circle.
Freshman Christina Tufano was equally impressive in the week that was for CSI. The first-year player started every game, going .458 at the dish (11-24), hitting safely in seven games. The third-baseman saved her best game for last, going 3-3 with a pair of RBI and doubles in CSI’s 5-0 win over Brooklyn College to help the team stay perfect in CUNY (4-0). Tufano plugged in a total of four extra base hits on the week, adding a pair of walks and a stolen bag.
For the year, Tufano is boasting a healthy .408 average, scattering a team-best five doubles, while posting second on the squad with three triples and 14 RBI.
CSI Baseball posted a 4-1 record in their busy week, complete with a conference sweep over John Jay College on Saturday. Fitzpatrick took the hill for game two of that doubleheader, and won a hard-fought, 4-2, decision. The freshman went the distance, pitching all seven innings, allowing two unearned runs on just four hits walking just two batters while fanning five. Fitzpatrick is enjoying a solid start to his career. He currently boasts a 2-0 record in five appearances with a team-best 1.02 ERA. He has pitched 17.2 innings in total, allowing 11 hits, five runs (two earned), while striking out 20 batters. Opponents are batting just .183 against him.
CSI baseball will pick things up with a single game against Manhattanville College Tuesday evening at the CSI Baseball Complex at 5pm. The Dolphin women are back in action Thursday, traveling to Wayne, New Jersey, to take on William Paterson in a non-conference doubleheader beginning at 3:30pm.
