Author Archives: Catie Curatolo

Catie Curatolo

About Catie Curatolo

Catie Curatolo is a junior from Staten Island. An athlete since she was small, Curatolo joined the Statesman sports section in order to continue being involved in the sports world. In addition to writing for the Statesman, Curatolo wrote for the Staten Island Advance when she was in high school and has done freelance work for the Three Village Patch. Her biggest accomplishment as part of the Statesman sports staff was traveling to Omaha in June of 2012 to cover the baseball team in their run for the College World Series title. In her spare time, she enjoys watching her dad coach and dominating her siblings in board games. She hopes to write for Sports Illustrated or Glamour magazine one day.

Baseball takes series against UMBC

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The baseball team continued their hot streak this weekend, winning 2-of-3 games against UMBC.

The Seawolves smacked a total of 31 hits off the Retrievers pitching staff, getting a season-high 17 hits in Sunday’s game.

SBU and UMBC split Saturday’s doubleheader, with the Seawolves winning game one 5-3 and dropping game two, 4-1. Sunday’s rubber match went 10 innings, with Stony Brook taking a 7-5 victory.

The Seawolves trailed 2-1 going into the fifth inning of game one, but junior Kevin Courtney smashed a two-run homer out of centerfield to make it 3-2.

In the sixth, an error and a Josh Mason squeeze bunt in the sixth gave SBU two more runs as leverage, but junior starter Frankie Vanderka was in control.

Vanderka allowed three runs (only one was earned) on eight hits. He struck out two and walked one, improving to 6-3 on the season. This was the righty’s seventh complete game of the season.

The game was tied 1-1 in the seventh inning of game two but, with runners at first and second, the Seawolves failed to score, flying out three times in a row to end the inning.

UMBC responded immediately, opening the bottom of the seventh with a triple. With two outs and a man on second, Vince Corbi smacked a double to left field to bring in the go-ahead run. The Retrievers then added two insurance runs in the eighth.

Junior Brandon McNitt started game two for the Seawolves, throwing 6-2/3 innings and giving up two runs (one earned) on four hits. Although he struck out three and walked two, he took the loss and dropped to 2-6 on the season. Despite his poor record, McNitt has a 3.76 ERA.

Freshman Jack Parenty finished the day 4-for-8 at the plate. The Seawolves totaled 14 hits on the day.

The series ended with a nail-biter, with Sunday’s rubber match going ten innings.

Tied at five after nine innings, SBU opened the extra innings with a single from freshman Brett Tenuto. He advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from fellow freshman Johnny Caputo and moved to third after junior Mason singled to the pitcher.

Parenty then took advantage of UMBC pitcher Jon Cohn, doubling down the right field line to score Tenuto and Mason.

The Retreivers got the final two outs, but the damage was already done. With the Seawolves up 7-5, UMBC tried to rally, getting two hits off freshman Tim Knesnik before Mason came in as relief and ended the inning.

The Seawolves combined for a record 17 hits off UMBC, with every batter getting at least one hit. Senior Tanner Nivins and junior Anthony Italiano had three hits apiece. Sophomore Cole Peragine, Tenuto, Caputo and Courtney each had two hits.

Courtney finished the series going 5-for-10 with one home run. He has homered in three of his last six conference games. He leads all America East players-in conference games only-in home runs and RBI, with 6 homers and 26 RBI.

Freshman Dan Zamora started the game for the Seawolves, giving up five runs on eight hits over four innings. He combined with Knesnik and Mason to strike out a total of eight UMBC batters.

With six leagues left, the Seawolves are — games behind Hartford.

They will take on Albany in a three-game series next weekend at Joe Nathan Field. First pitch is Saturday at noon.

Baseball takes series against Binghamton

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Junior Kevin Courtney finished the series with seven RBI and two home runs. (SARA SUPRIYATO / THE STATESMAN)

Junior Kevin Courtney finished the series with seven RBI and two home runs. (SARA SUPRIYATO / THE STATESMAN)

Kevin Courtney’s bat and solid pitching gave the baseball team a series win against Binghamton this weekend. SBU (17-28, 9-12 AE) took two-of-three at the Bearcats home field.

Stony Brook is now 1.5 games behind fourth-place Binghamton (21-17, 10-10 AE) with nine league games remaining.

The teams split Saturday’s doubleheader, with SBU taking game one 5-1 and dropping game two, 3-1. On Sunday, the Seawolves took the rubber match, 8-4.

Going into the top of the fifth in Saturday’s first game, the teams were tied at one. Things seemed dismal after the first two batters of the inning struck out, but the Seawolves rallied, with freshmen Brett Tenuto and Jack Parenty singling to get on base and sophomore Cole Peragine drawing a walk after four pitches.

Kevin Courtney then broke the game open, hitting a grand slam on a 1-0 pitch over the right-center wall.

Up 5-1, junior Frankie Vanderka took over. The righty allowed just one more Binghamton player to get to second base, finishing the game on a strikeout to earn his sixth complete game of the year. He improved to 5-3 and allowed just one run on five hits.

Binghamton’s starter Jake Lambert also went the distance, giving up nine runs in the seven inning game. He fell to 4-2 on the season with the loss.

The Bearcats started game two hot, getting two runs off starter Brandon McNitt in the first inning of Saturday’s loss. The junior gave up an RBI single to Shaun McGraw, and allowed the second run after a Jordon Smucker groundout.

The Seawolves bats struggled against Binghamton starter Jack Rogalla. He allowed SBU’s offense just four hits.

Stony Brook’s only chance came in the eighth, when freshman Johnny Caputo doubled and senior Tanner Nivins singled to make it first and third with no outs. The Seawolves managed to eke out a run, but only after sophomore Kevin Krause, who recently returned from an injury, hit into a 4-6-3 double play to clear the bases.

Courtney, Nivins and Tenuto produced multi-hit games in the doubleheader.

McNitt threw 6-2/3 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits. He dropped to 2-5 after the loss.

In Sunday’s rubber match, strong pitching from starter Daniel Zamora and another homerun from Courtney helped the Seawolves build an 8-0 lead that they refused to relinquish.

SBU took two runs immedietly, with Parenty and Peragine scoring in the top of the first off singles from Caputo and Nivins. The Seawolves added two more in the third, when a Nivins double to left scored Courtney and another double from junior Anthony Italiano scored Nivins.

Courtney again broke the game open, this time with a three-run homer in the sixth to make the game 8-0. He finished the series with two home runs and seven RBI.

The Bearcats tried to make a comeback in the ninth, getting three runs off freshman Tim Knesnik, but it wasn’t meant to be.

Zamora threw seven innings and gave up just one run on four hits.

The Seawolves had twelve hits on the day, nine of which they got off Binghamton starter Jay Lynch, who gave up four runs in five innings. Previously, Lynch had allowed only one earned run in his last 21 innings pitched.

Nivins finished the weekend 6-for-11, with three stolen bases. Both he and Parenty produced three-hit games on Sunday.

The Seawolves will face Fairfield in a non-conference game at home on Wednesday before traveling to Baltimore next weekend to take on UMBC.

Track and Field impresses at Penn Relays

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The Track and Field team put on an impressive display at the 119th Penn Relays last week, with two ECAC qualifiers and a broken school record.

The women’s team had two ECAC qualifiers on day one, senior Annie Keown and freshman Christina Melian.

Melian qualified for the ECAC championships in the women’s 3000-meter. With a time of 9:37.59-her personal best-she finished seventh overall and was the first freshman in the prestigious race to finish.

Keown put in an ECAC-qualifying time in the 5000-meter, finishing in 17:10.12. She placed 22nd out of the 31 runners in the event.

The ECAC, or Eastern College Athletic Conference, Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be held at Princeton University in New Jersey, May 10-12.

The men’s team was led on day two by the sprint medley squad, who broke a 20-year-old school record. The team, consisting of sophomore Terry Martin and juniors Stephen Reilly, Adam Jacob and Matt Grananta, placed sixth overall and finished in 3:31.15.

The distance medley relay also placed well, finishing eighth. The team, which was made up of sophomore Daniel Denis, junior Robert Taylor, freshman Bradley Amazan and sophomore Tyler Frigge, finished with a time of 10:09.06.

The Seawolves will travel to Binghamton next weekend for the America East Championship.

Superb pitching lifts baseball over NYIT, 6-0

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Senior Tanner Nivins went 2-for-4 with one RBI against NYIT. (NINA LIN / THE STATESMAN)

Senior Tanner Nivins went 2-for-4 with one RBI against NYIT. (NINA LIN / THE STATESMAN)

A dominant day by the Stony Brook pitching staff and a 10-hit day by the offense lifted SBU over visiting NYIT on Tuesday, 6-0.

The Seawolves (13-24, 6-9 AE) blanked the Bears just a day after losing 10-0 to Bryant University, who are on a 19 game winning streak.

“Today was a good bounce back win off a very tough loss yesterday, so it was good to get a win,” head coach Matt Senk said.

The Bears started the game off with a single, but struggled to get hits off freshman starter Tyler Honahan, who threw a career-high nine strikeouts over four innings.

Honahan was followed on the mound by Chad Lee in the fifth and then Kenny Ball in the ninth, making today’s pitching an all-freshmen affair. Altogether, they struck out 15 batters.

“At one point – until we replaced [Austin] Shives at shortstop – we had a freshman at second, short and third [as well],” Senk said. “It was a good day to get a lot of freshmen a lot of playing time.”

The 3-29 Bears had a tough time against Stony Brook bats, with SBU getting 10 hits, including four doubles.

The Seawolves took advantage of NYIT’s shaky play, with lead-off batter Jack Parenty scoring their first run on a wild pitch after stealing two bases.

“Teams with a record like that, usually they don’t control the run game very well, so we stole some bases today,” Senk said. “And then of course, you can go up to the plate and be more aggressive as well.”

SBU added another run in the first, another in the second and then two more in the third. A final run off an RBI double from freshman Shives rounded out the scoring for SBU.

“They’re not really running guys out there that have had velocity or “fast pitches,” Senk said.

Seven of the eleven Seawolves who batted got hits, with senior Tanner Nivins, junior Josh Mason and freshman Brett Tenuto each going 2-for-4.

After earning its third shutout of the season, Stony Brook looks to begin the second half of conference play, taking on first-place Maine at Maine on Saturday. The Seawolves are hoping to rise from their current spot in second-to-last place in the America East conference.

“It was a very good day, it was good to get a win going into the second half of the conference season against a very good Maine team,” Senk said.

Baseball goes 2-1 against Hartford over weekend

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Freshman pitcher Tim Knesnik came in as a reliever on Sunday's game, giving up one run in five innings. (SARA SUPRIYATO / THE STATESMAN)

Freshman pitcher Tim Knesnik came in as a reliever on Sunday’s game, giving up one run in five innings. (SARA SUPRIYATO / THE STATESMAN)

The baseball team took a 2-1 series victory in three exciting games against the Hartford Hawks this weekend.

The Seawolves took the victory in Sunday’s rubber match, which went 11 innings and ended on a Josh Mason RBI single, and split Saturday’s doubleheader, losing game one, 4-3, in extra innings and winning game two, 3-2.

Head coach Matt Senk was pleased with his team’s performance.

“It was a well-played series, we had three terrific games,” he said.

It seemed like the Seawolves would take Saturday’s first game, which started with SBU scoring in the second and third innings. But junior starter Frankie Vanderka gave up two runs in the fifth and another in the sixth before he was replaced in the seventh by Mason.

With the score tied at three, the seven-inning game went into extra innings. Hartford’s Brandy Sheetz opened the eighth with a triple, and scored off an RBI single from teammate Chris DelDebbio.

Down 4-3 in the bottom of the eighth, SBU couldn’t make a comeback. Junior Anthony Italiano walked to start the inning, and moved to second on a wild pitch. After fellow junior Kevin Courtney was hit by a pitch, senior Tanner Nivins bunted the ball back to the pitcher, who threw out Italiano at third. Sophomore Cole Peragine then hit into a double play to end the game.

Vanderka struck out a season-high eight batters and allowed three runs on six hits, walking two. Mason, who started the game in centerfield, got the loss after giving up the winning run.

“Unfortunately Frankie had that one tough inning,” Senk said.

The second game went better for the Seawolves pitching staff, with junior Brandon McNitt throwing a complete game, despite a twenty minute delay in the seventh inning. This was the seventh complete game a Stony Brook starting pitcher has thrown this season.

McNitt picked up his second win, allowing just two runs on eight hits. Like Vanderka in game one, he also struck out a season-high eight batters and walked two. Eighty seven of his 117 pitches were strikes.

After the Hawks picked up a run in the fourth inning, the Seawolves answered back with two runs of their own off a triple from Nivins. Hartford scored again in the sixth, making it 2-2 going into the eighth.

After McNitt shut down the Hawks offense, Italiano hit a two-out single to center to get on base. He was followed by Courtney, who drove a double into the right center gap to score Italiano and give SBU the lead.

McNitt finished an attempted Hawk rally by striking out Hartford’s Joe Roberti to end the game.

“Brandon threw terrific,” Senk said.

Mason, Peragine, and freshman Jack Parenty each had multi-hit games, and Nivins had three RBI in the doubleheader.

“We’ve been swinging the bats better since last Tuesday,” Senk said, referring to Tuesday’s 9-5 loss to Manhattan College, in which SBU posted 11 hits.

Stony Brook had 13 hits to the Hawks’ 16 in the doubleheader, but finished the weekend with 25 hits overall.

Sunday’s game was a fight, with both teams struggling to gain leverage.

Stony Brook had the upper hand for most of the game, scoring a run in the first off a throwing error from Hawks’ catcher James Alfonso.

They added two more runs in the seventh, after Courtney smacked a two-out double off the right center fence.

But Hartford got on the board in the seventh, scoring four runs. Starter Dan Zamora gave up a single and two doubles before being replaced by fellow freshman Tim Knesnick, who gave up a triple before settling down and getting three outs to end the inning.

SBU responded with a triple of their own, from freshman Johnny Caputo. Caputo then scored the tying run after Mason bounced a single past the third baseman.

Neither team could score in the eighth or ninth, and the game was tied at 4 after nine innings.

For the second time in the series the game went into extra innings.

After a tenth inning in which the Hawks threatened but couldn’t get a run across, the first two SBU batters struck out. Parenty singled past the second baseman and then took second.

With two outs and a man on second, it looked like game over when Peragine smoked the ball to right field. But Hartford’s right fielder Ryan Lukach fielded the ball and gunned Parenty at home, ending the inning and SBU’s chance to score.

The Seawolves, however, weren’t giving up the fight. After Knesnick retired the side in the top of the eleventh, Italiano opened with a single past the shortstop to get on first. Hartford reliever Jeremy Charles then struck out Courtney and Nivins to get two outs, but Italiano moved to second on a Caputo single.

With men on first and second and two outs, Mason smacked a single right down the left field line to bring Italiano home and end the game.

“We’ve been on the short end of extra inning games way too many times this year,” Senk said. “So it’s nice to be on the winning end.”

Freshman Zamora struck out six and gave up seven hits, but it was Knesnick who carried the Seawolves. He allowed only one run and three hits over five innings, striking out four and walking none to get his third win of the season.

“Timmy Knesnick, what could you say about him,” Senk said. “Five innings of relief and picked up the win. He pitched extremely well.”

Five Seawolves had multi-hit games on the Seawolves 12-hit day, led by Peragine, who went 3-for-5. Caputo went 2-for-5 and hit his fourth triple of the season. Mason, who had both the game-winning and game-tying RBI, also went 2-for-5.

Italiano, who scored the winning run in both of Stony Brook’s wins this weekend, threw out five would-be basestealers this weekend. He is now 26-for-54 on the season.

With the wins this weekend, SBU is 1.5 games behind fourth place Binghamton in the America East.

The Seawolves will play two non-conference games at home this week before traveling to Maine for a three-game conference series next weekend. Stony Brook takes on Bryant on Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Joe Nathan Field.

 

Balancing baseball and biology

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Junior Brandon McNitt currently has a 4.19 ERA and a 1-3 record through eight starts this season. (PHOTO COURTESY OF STONY BROOK ATHLETICS)

Junior Brandon McNitt currently has a 4.19 ERA and a 1-3 record through eight starts this season. (PHOTO COURTESY OF STONY BROOK ATHLETICS)

It’s all about focus for Brandon McNitt.

A right-handed pitcher who moved to number one in the Seawolves starting rotation this season, he is also a biochemistry major who hopes to one day become either an anesthesiologist or a plastic surgeon.

With such a loaded schedule and heavy workload, McNitt, 21, has to work to keep himself regimented.

“You have to be disciplined enough to use your time wisely,” he said. “The way I go about baseball and school is pretty similar: you focus for an hour or two and then you take a break.”

A junior, this is his third year as a starter. Head coach Matt Senk says he chose him as number one because he relies on McNitt’s intelligence on the mound.

“He’s a very good student and I think Brandon takes that intelligence to the field,” Senk said. “He’s a smart baseball player, he’s extremely competitive – a combination of intelligence and competitiveness with a real good arm makes for a very effective pitcher.”

A self-proclaimed “perfectionist,” McNitt threw 3-2/3 innings in the College World Series last year, giving up nine runs (only four were earned).

Although he says that it is a confidence booster to have pitched at the highest level known to college ballplayers, he tries not to let it get to his head.

“That’s when bad things happen,” he said. “You get a big head and things start to go downhill and you try to do more and it snowballs.”

So far this season, McNitt has started seven games for the 9-16 Seawolves. He has a 1-3 record, with thirty strikeouts and a 4.19 ERA.

“My goal personally is to do well, do the best that I can to help our team win,” he said. “The main goal is to be consistent.”

McNitt is originally from California. He attended Bishop Amat High School, where he was a three-year varsity baseball player, a two-year letterwinner in football and a member of the National Honors Society.

McNitt says the decision to attend school on the other side of the country was a no-brainer because “it’s four years of your life living in New York.” The scholarship he received and the chance of ample playing time as an underclassman, combined with the fact that Stony Brook has a good science program, made SBU the easy choice.

Interestingly, many of McNitt’s teammates are also Californians, a fact that boggles most people’s minds. They all have different reasons but, according to McNitt, they all want to move back to the West coast after they graduate.

“It’s a different environment,” he said. “It’s just a different world than we’re used to; we’re used to happy-go-lucky, cruising, whatever, whereas over [on the East coast] it’s hectic.”

This laid-back California demeanor is something Senk wishes McNitt would improve on. His quietness does not help him when it comes to being a leader.

“He has a lot of things going for him that would allow him to be a leader on the team but I think that, because he’s kind of a quiet guy, sometimes Brandon is not as verbal a leader as I would like,” Senk says.

For his part, McNitt thinks his biggest weakness is laziness.

“I get lazy at times,” he said. “Instead of going home and studying, I go to sleep.”

With such a hectic lifestyle, it is no wonder the kid wants to take a nap every once and awhile. But again, that easy-going manner helps keep him on track.

“Nothing ever bothers me,” he said. “So I can have a million things going on and I don’t get stressed out, I don’t worry about all of them at once.”

McNitt says several reasons factored into his becoming a Seawolf, but one of the biggest ones was Stony Brook’s excellent medical program, which McNitt found to be the right fit for him. As a perfectionist, McNitt believes a career in plastic surgery would be right for him because “that’s the point of the job, to make people look perfect,” and going to a school as prestigious in the medical community as Stony Brook will hopefully help him achieve that goal.

He says his original plan was to use baseball to pay for school, but now, if his baseball career continues, he will continue with it knowing he has his education to fall back on.

“The plan is to ride out baseball as long as I can and then eventually do the whole medicine thing,” he said.

As a student and an athlete, McNitt gets to be a part of two things that Stony Brook excels at. And that, he says, is the best.

“Being a part of something that’s bigger than you and being able to represent a whole university that is prestigious, it’s easy to be a Seawolf,” he said. “It’s great to be a part of something that’s always winning…cause losing sucks.”

Albany sweeps baseball in three-game series

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Cole Peragine had three hits on Sunday's game against Albany, but Stony Brook still lost 4-3. (CATIE CURATOLO / THE STATESMAN)

Cole Peragine had three hits on Sunday’s game against Albany, but Stony Brook still lost 4-3. (CATIE CURATOLO / THE STATESMAN)

Despite two homers from Kevin Courtney and a three-hit day on Sunday for Cole Peragine, the baseball team was swept by the University at Albany this weekend.  They dropped both games of a doubleheader on Saturday, 5-4 and 9-6, before falling 4-3 in Sunday’s matchup.

The Seawolves drop to 4-8 in the America East and 9-21 overall with this weekends losses.

SBU had a 4-0 lead in game one behind the pitching of junior Frankie Vanderka, but the Great Danes bit back in the sixth. A two-out single from Gordon Madej scored the runners from second and third to make it 4-2, and a two-run homer from Josh Nethaway tied the game.

Stony Brook brought in freshman Tim Knesnick for the seventh inning. He gave up a single to Greg Muller, who then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Albany’s catcher Evan Harasta then came up and blasted a single to left field to bring in Muller and end the game.

Vanderka walked none and struck out four, allowing four runs and six hits in six innings. Knesnick took the loss after giving up the game winning run and is now 2-1.

Albany immediately turned it on in the second game, scoring four runs in the second off SBU starter Brandon McNitt. The junior gave up a bases loaded triple to Albany’s Nolan Gaige to make the score 4-0.

The Great Danes scored two more runs, making it 6-0, before the Seawolves started to come back. SBU was largely helped by Courtney, a junior, who smashed a two-run home run over the right field wall in the fourth and another two-run homer to the same spot in the eighth.

Despite having the bases loaded and the tying run at the plate in the ninth, Stony Brook could not complete the comeback. A sacrifice fly and two strikeouts ended the game and gave Albany their second win of the day.

McNitt walked two and struck out six over seven innings. He dropped to 1-3 after giving up eight runs and nine hits.

Peragine and senior Tanner Nivins had multi-hit games, combining for six hits. Freshman Jack Parenty, who previously had hit safely in 18 consecutive games, went 0-for-4 in both games, ending his streak. The Seawolves had 15 hits on the day, but also struck out 19 times.

Sunday’s game went much the same way, with SBU stranding a season-high 15 men on base in the 4-3 loss.

Albany took the lead with a four-run inning in the fourth, making the score 4-1. Although SBU had several chances to tie, they could not convert the runners into runs. The closest they got was in the sixth inning, when Courtney hit a ground ball to third. Peragine, who was on third base, started to go, but got caught in a rundown and was tagged out. Freshman Johnny Caputo then struck out to end the inning and the Seawolves chance to tie.

Stony Brook continued to put runners on in the final innings, but could not get a run in.

Freshman starter Daniel  Zamora took the loss, allowing four runs on four hits. He struck out eight and walked one over the course of seven innings. He dropped to 1-6 with the loss. Over his last 13-1/3 innings pitched, he has struck out 17 batters.

Courtney, who has a total of eight home runs as a Seawolf, finished the series 4-for-9, with two home runs and 5 RBI. Peragine added three hits on Sunday, hitting safely in five consecutive games. The Seawolves finished the series with 23 hits.

Stony Brook will play Iona at Iona on Tuesday before returning home for their next five games. They play a non-conference matchup against Manhattan College at Joe Nathan Field on Wednesday, before starting a three-game conference series against Hartford on Friday. First pitch against Manhattan is at 3:30 p.m.

Baseball bounces back, sweeps UMBC on Saturday

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Junior Anthony Italiano hit his second home run of the season in Saturday's first game. (NINA LIN/THE STATESMAN)

Junior Anthony Italiano hit his second home run of the season in Saturday’s first game. (NINA LIN/THE STATESMAN)

After losing to St. John’s at Citi Field on Tuesday, stellar pitching and a 20-hit day helped lift the baseball team to their first series win of the year this weekend.

The Seawolves (9-17, 4-5 AE) beat the UMBC Retrievers 8-0 and 5-2 on Saturday after dropping Friday’s match up 2-1 in 10 innings.

“First doubleheader sweep of the year, first series win of the year,” head coach Matt Senk said. “A very tough loss [Friday] evening, but we bounced back.”

After getting a mere four hits on Friday, Stony Brook smashed a total of 20 hits on Saturday led by the bats of juniors Anthony Italiano and Kevin Courtney, who each smashed multi-run home runs, SBU outhit UMBC 24-18 for the weekend.

Friday’s loss, which featured junior Brandon McNitt on the mound for the Seawolves, was a pitcher’s duel that went 10 innings.

Although the Retrievers smacked a total of nine hits off McNitt and reliever Josh Mason, neither team had much leverage throughout the game.

Stony Brook’s only advantage came in the bottom of the ninth, when Courtney hit a double that just missed going over the right field wall. He advanced to third on a fielder’s choice and was poised to score with two outs.

But it was not to be. Freshman Brett Tenuto hit what would have been a game-winning line drive, only to have UMBC second baseman Vince Corbi leap into the air and make a jumping play to end the inning.

Senk had some words with his team after the loss, which was the team’s first against UMBC since 2009.

“What I basically asked them was to stop beating ourselves,” he said. “There are situations throughout the year where we can execute and play better and, for whatever reason, we haven’t.”

“I asked them to kind of do a self assessment and come out here and be ready to go and they did a good job of that.”

True to his wishes, the Seawolves started Saturday off in a dominant style and never looked back.

Junior Frankie Vanderka started on the mound for SBU in game one, throwing his fourth complete game in a row. He struck out seven and allowed just three hits and one walk over the seven inning shutout.

With runners on first and second in the first, Italiano hit a two-out, three run homer over the left field wall to give the Seawolves their first lead of the series. SBU added three more runs in the second after a single from freshman Jack Parenty and a throwing error from UMBC shortstop Kevin Lachance.

 After that, it was easy going.

An RBI from junior Michael Hubbard added another run in the fifth, and a single from freshman Austin Shives gave the Seawolves their final run in the sixth.

“Hopefully the weather got warm, so the bats are going to start warming up,” Senk said. “If we do that then we’ve got a lot of good things ahead of us.”

Stony Brook’s bats again ruled the second game, when it got 12 of its 20 hits.

The Seawolves picked up another early lead when Courtney blasted a shot over the right field wall with a man on base to make the score 2-0.

Aided by the stellar pitching of freshman starter Daniel Zamora,  SBU simply chipped away at the Retrievers, adding another run off a Tenuto triple in the third, another when Shives scored off a UMBC error in the fourth and yet another off an RBI single from freshman Johnny Caputo in the eighth.

“That’s nice to see because we haven’t had that kind of hitting frankly all season,” Senk said.

Zamora allowed just one run on five hits over 6-1/3 innings and struck out a career-high nine batters.

Fellow freshman Tim Knesnick came in in relief, allowing just one unearned run and earning his first career save.

Parenty extended his hitting streak to 17 consecutive games, going 1-for-3 in game one and 2-for-4 in game two.

Italiano caught three Retrievers stealing in the series. He has now thrown out 20 of 44 would-be base stealers this year.

All in all, it was a good day for the Seawolves.

“We bounced back to sweep the doubleheader and win the series, I think that says a lot about the character of the guys,” Senk said. “I’m very proud of them.”

The team hits the road for the next five games, playing a non-conference game at Marist on Tuesday and then the Albany series next weekend.

“We’re kind of battle-tested when it comes to being on the road, so I don’t think that’ll test us,” Senk said.

Baseball goes one of three against Binghamton

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Cole Peragine drew two walks over the three games. Photo by Nina Lin.

Cole Peragine drew two walks over the three games. Photo by Nina Lin.

Baseball went 1-for-3 this weekend in conference play against Binghamton, splitting Saturday’s doubleheader and dropping Sunday’s matchup.

Although they had a dominant lead going into the final inning of Saturday’s first game, the Seawolves ultimately lost 10-7.

SBU led 7-4 going into the seventh. After junior starter Brandon McNitt loaded the bases, he was replaced by freshman Tyler Honahan, who gave up three runs to make it a tie game.

Freshman Tim Knesnik came in to relieve fellow freshman Honahan and immediately gave up an RBI double that gave Binghamton a lead they would not relinquish.

Junior Frankie Vanderka pitched his third straight complete game in game two, carrying Stony Brook to a 4-1 victory.

After giving up a run in the first, a homer from junior Anthony Italiano – who went 4-for-8 with 3 RBI on the day – tied the game.

The Seawolves scored three more runs in the fifth. Sophomore Cole Peragine drew an RBI walk, and another run scored off a single from freshman Johnny Caputo. Junior Kevin Courtney brought in another run with a two-out RBI double.

It was all over after that. Vanderka struck out four of the last nine batters he faced. He gave up seven hits and one run, and struck out a season-high seven batters. He is now leading the America East with a 1.65 ERA.

Freshman Jack Parenty went 6-for-8 in the doubleheader, with two RBI. After getting one hit on Sunday, he has now hit safely in thirteen consecutive games.

The Seawolves lost Sunday’s rubbermatch 8-1, with freshman starter Daniel Zamora giving up six hits and five runs in the first four innings (only two were earned).

Stony Brook only got five hits off Binghamton, with three of those hits coming from Caputo. The Bearcats smacked thirteen hits off SBU.

The Seawolves also recorded four errors on Sunday.

Earlier in spring break, the Seawolves went 1-for-3 when they opened conference play at Joe Nathan Field against Maine. The team also dropped a non-conference game against Rhode Island, 8-4, in the middle of the week.

Nivins’ 3 RBI lift baseball over Fordham, 3-2

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Senior Tanner Nivins drove in all three of SBU's runs. (NINA LIN / THE STATESMAN)

Senior Tanner Nivins drove in all three of SBU’s runs. (NINA LIN / THE STATESMAN)

Strong pitching and Tanner Nivins’ bat lifted the baseball team over Fordham, 3-2, today.The senior outfielder drove in all three of the Seawolves runs, and the SBU pitching staff allowed the Rams just six hits.“We continued to pitch extremely well and our defense has been playing well behind our pitching,” head coach Matt Senk said.Stony Brook wasted no time, starting the game by putting the first two batters on base.Sophomore Cole Peragine opened the game with a double, and quickly moved to third after a bunt single from freshman Jack Parenty.With runners on second and third, Nivins smashed a single to left to give the Seawolves a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Parenty scored the third run as well, after Nivins hit a sac fly that the Rams’ right fielder dropped.Both Parenty and Peragine went 2-for-4 on the day, combining for four of SBU’s six hits.

“Offensively, we’re still not where we want to be,” Senk said. “It’s been very slight so far, but there’s been some improvement.”

Fordham scored its two runs in the fourth, when starter Chad Lee gave up a two-run home run.

Lee was relieved by freshman Tim Knesnik, who threw 3 and 1/3 scoreless innings to earn his second college win. Fellow freshman Tyler Honahan got the save—the third of his career—after pitching a scoreless ninth.

The Seawolves had zero errors in today’s game, their fourth against Fordham this weekend.

They will play Fairleigh Dickinson Thursday in their final non-conference matchup before America East play begins. First pitch at Joe Nathan Field is at 3 p.m.

Vanderka hurls no-hitter to help Baseball take 2-of-3 against Fordham

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The Seawolves smashed 20 hits in three games against Fordham. Efal Sayed / The Statesman

The Seawolves smashed 20 hits in three games against Fordham.
Efal Sayed / The Statesman

Solid pitching performances carried the Seawolves (3-10) this weekend, as they won two of three games at Fordham.Junior Brandon McNitt earned his first win of the season on Saturday, as the Seawolves defeated the Rams 3-2.Frankie Vanderka, another junior, hurled his second career no-hitter on Sunday, blanking Fordham 2-0 in extra innings.

Originally scheduled to play a doubleheader on Saturday at Fordham and another on Sunday at Stony Brook, inclement weather forced the teams to play a three game series  at Fordham this weekend instead (the fourth game will be played on Monday at SBU). Both games on Sunday were scheduled to be just seven innings, but Vanderka and Rams starter Chris Pike fought it out to take the game to extra innings.

McNitt threw eight innings on Saturday, allowing just one earned run – his only earned run in his last 15 innings pitched.

Leading 1-0 in the fourth, sophomore Steven Goldstein grounded into a fielder’s choice to score freshman Jack Parenty. After freshman Austin Shives hit a single to move Goldstein to third, sophomore Cole Peragine hit a single to left center to bring Goldstein home and give SBU the 3-0 lead.

The game was 3-1 in the bottom of the ninth, but the Rams added a run and then loaded the bases in an attempt to take the victory. Luckily, freshman Tyler Honahan struck out Fordham’s Rob McCunney to get the save.

The Seawolves got 10 hits off the Rams, with Peragine and Shives each going 3-for-4.  In his first game back after being injured against North Carolina, Peragine earned 2 RBI and a walk.

Vanderka shone on Sunday, throwing his second no-hitter as a Seawolf. He struck out six and walked three (one intentionally) in nine innings, making his record 1-2.

Things got dicey in the bottom of the seventh, when Vanderka loaded the bases after an error and two walks (one intentional). But the righty struck out Fordham’s Joseph Runco to send the game into extra innings.

After a scoreless eighth, freshman Johnny Caputo and senior Tanner Nivins led off the ninth inning with back-to-back triples; Caputo scored the first run and Nivins scored after Goldstein got an RBI groundout.

Vanderka then closed the game with a 1-2-3 ninth for his second no-hitter. His first came against NJIT when he was a freshman.

The 2-0 win gave Stony Brook a seven-game winning streak against Fordham, which the Rams broke in the second game of the doubleheader, shutting out the Seawolves 3-0 in seven innings.

Fordham scored three runs in the first off freshman Dan Zamora, who threw a six-inning complete game to bring his record down to 0-3. Despite that being their only three runs, the Seawolves could not catch up, leaving five men on base and hitting into two double plays.

Peragine went 3-for-7 in the doubleheader, and Caputo went 3-for-6, extending his hitting streak to eight games.

Stony Brook and Fordham will finish their series with a game at Joe Nathan Field on Monday. First pitch is 3 p.m.

Baseball beats Iona, 5-1, in home opener

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It was a group effort that got the baseball team their first win of the season today.

Seven Seawolves combined for eight hits as SBU (1-9) defeated Iona (2-8) 5-1 in their home opener at Joe Nathan Field.

“I think the guys played with a lot of energy and it was a good win,” head coach Matt Senk said. “It’s good to be back on Nathan field where we have a lot of success.”

After a slow start and just one run on an RBI walk, SBU broke the game open in the sixth.

Senior Tanner Nivins started the inning with a single up the middle, and promptly stole second base. Back-to-back singles from junior Anthony Italiano and freshman Austin Shives scored Nivins and junior Michael Hubbard, who reached first after getting hit by a pitch.

A double from sophomore Michael Roehrig sent Italiano home, and Shives scored off an RBI from fellow freshman Brett Tenuto.

The Gaels got their lone run and three of their four hits in the seventh, but could not make a comeback.

“It’s good to get a win finally,” Senk said. “We definitely needed it.”

Nivins led the team, going 2-for-3 with a walk and swiping two of SBU’s four stolen bases.

Freshman Chad Lee started and pitched three scoreless innings before being replaced by fellow freshman Tim Knesnik, who took the win.

“We’re glad to get the first one and looking forward to getting many more,” Senk said.

Stony Brook plays a four game series against Fordham this weekend – Saturday’s games are away, but Sunday’s doubleheader is at Joe Nathan Field. First pitch is at noon.

Baseball continues to struggle, now 0-9 after Hughes Bros. Challenge

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It’s been a rough season so far for Seawolves baseball.

After being swept in two three-game series against FIU and North Carolina, SBU traveled back to North Carolina this weekend to compete in the Hughes Bros. Challenge.

They dropped a nail-biter on Friday, losing to UNC Wilmington, 3-2, in ten innings. After that, they fell 4-0 to Gardner-Webb on Saturday and were crushed by San Diego, 15-4, on Sunday.

The winningest team in the nation going into the College World Series last year, Stony Brook will play their home opener with a 0-9 record.

Brandon McNitt threw seven innings on Friday, giving up just one unearned run, but a pair of solo home runs at the end of the game gave UNC Wilmington the victory.

Freshman Tyler Honahan replaced McNitt in the eighth. He gave up a leadoff home run in the ninth, which sent the game into extra innings. After Stony Brook failed to score in the top of the tenth, UNC Wilmington’s Ryan LaGrange lead off with a homer to left to end the game.

SBU had 12 hits on the game, a season-high. But 14 men were left on base and the Seawolves struck out 12 times.

In Saturday’s game, Stony Brook could not compete with Gardner-Webb’s Andrew Barnett, who threw a complete game shutout.

The third time SBU has been shutout this season. Stony Brook failed to advance a runner to second base. Barnett allowed the Seawolves just four hits, including two singles from freshman Brett Tenuto.

Junior Frankie Vanderka took the loss, allowing four runs and eight hits in 6 and 2/3 innings. He is now 0-2.

The Seawolves could not hold on on Sunday, despite a two-run double from freshman Johnny Caputo that tied the game at 3 in the third inning.

The nationally ranked Toreros scored six times in the bottom of the third, making it 9-3 and sealing the game by the end of the inning.

Freshman Dan Zamora allowed six runs (five earned) on six hits in two innings.

Caputo finished the weekend 5-for-13, batting .385, while fellow freshmen Jack Parenty and Austin Shives had two hits apiece, their first multi-hit games in their careers.

The Seawolves will return North to play their home opener against Iona on Wednesday. First pitch at Joe Nathan Field is at 3:00 p.m.

Baseball swept by UNC Sunday

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Despite the Seawolves best attempts, they were swept by No. 1 ranked North Carolina on the road this weekend.

The second game of Sunday’s doubleheader was a fierce fight, with the Tar Heels eventually coming back to win, 9-8, with two runs in the bottom of the ninth.

Stony Brook trailed 6-2, but bounced back with a six-run eighth inning. Freshman Johnny Caputo and junior Anthony Italiano each contributed two-run doubles, while senior Tanner Nivins added an RBI walk.

The inning ended, however, when Italiano was thrown out at home and junior Michael Hubbard was caught trying to steal second.

North Carolina then hit back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the ninth to tie and won on a single to left with bases loaded.

The Tar Heels took Sunday’s first game, 7-1, and Saturday’s game, 11-2. The Seawolves hit .183 in the series, with three doubles and 10 RBI.

Italiano was a standout for Stony Brook behind the plate, throwing out NC’s Landon Lassiter twice on Saturday and two more baserunners in Sunday’s first game. He has now thrown out six of nine attempted runners this season.

Stony Brook returns to NC next weekend for the Hughes Bros. Challenge at UNC Wilmington.

Tennis opens spring season against Penn and Lehigh

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Men drop matches in doubles and singles play

Despite valiant efforts from the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles teams, the men’s tennis team lost to both Penn and Lehigh this weekend to open the 2013 season.

Both doubles teams lost at Penn, 8-7. The team of freshman Rick Timmerman and sophomore Albert Fontova fought through six consecutive games to try and end Penn’s 7-1 lead, but ultimately failed.

The lone Stony Brook win at Lehigh came from senior Robert Forai, who defeated Matt Savran, 6-4, 6-3, in the singles match.

The men will try to make a comeback in two weeks at the Yale 4-Way in Connecticut.

Women split two with Lehigh 

Decisive wins in both singles and doubles helped the women’s tennis team beat Lehigh 7-0 this weekend.

The No. 2 doubles team of freshmen Louise Badoche and Jackie Altansarnai and the No. 3 team of sophomore Cassandra Dix and junior Lisa Setyon each defeated their opponents 8-5.

Sophomore Polina Movchan started the match with a No. 2 singles win, and Dix added points with a 6-0, 6-0 win in the No. 4 singles.

Senior Nini Lagvilava sealed the victory for the Seawolves with her 6-1, 7-5 No. 1 singles win.

Although they dropped the season opening match, 4-3, on Friday against Penn, Lagvilava defeated Sol Eskenazi to give the Quakers their first individual-match loss this season.

Movchan and Altansarnai added points with singles wins, but that was not enough to overcome the Quaker squad, who took all three doubles matches.

The women’s team will be back in action at Army on Feb. 23, making up a match rescheduled due to the recent blizzard.

After making historic run to College World Series last season, Baseball hopes to continue momentum this year

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Expectations are high for the baseball team this season.

The four-time America East champions traveled to the College World Series in Omaha, NE, last June. Despite being eliminated in just two games, the team’s journey garnered the attention of baseball fans across the country, who were charmed by their underdog story.

As this season opens, the Seawolves face a new challenge: with more eyes turned on the program than ever before, there’s a pressure to perform.

After losing seven key players to the MLB draft, many are asking if the Seawolves are just a one-hit wonder. To those thinking this might be a “rebuilding” year, head coach Matt Senk says no.

“We’re looking to win,” Senk said. “For a long time here, I think a part of our winning culture is that we don’t look to rebuild, we look to reload and that’s kind of been our mindset.”

When he realized he might lose his star players to the draft —including All-American juniors Travis Jankowski and William Carmona — Senk says he went out and “aggressively recruited” a new class for the 2013 season.

“We went out and brought in ten new players,” he said. “We think they’re a talented group and it comes down to how quickly they mature.”

The new recruits include lefty pitcher Dan Zamora, who was drafted out of high school from La Puente, Calif. and will be the number three starter, as well as a plethora of other freshmen who will be fighting for spots in the infield left vacant by injuries and Carmona’s departure.

It won’t be all new faces, however; several key players from last year’s team are now sophomores whom Senk is relying on to keep up last season’s momentum.

As All-American freshmen last year, sophomores Cole Peragine, Kevin Krause and Steven Goldstein will retain their spots in the starting line-up.

Peragine and Goldstein will remain at shortstop and in the outfield, respectively, but former designated hitter Krause will take over for catcher Pat Cantwell, who graduated and was drafted by the Texas Rangers.

Junior Kevin Courtney played first place for most of last year, and is expected to remain there for the 2013 season.

Tanner Nivins, one of two seniors (the other is righty pitcher G.C. Yerry), has been a starter in the outfield since his freshman year and is expected to be vital in leading the team.

Senk is planning to rely heavily on his pitchers as well, saying that, while his team is strong offensively, pitching and defense are the areas “where we feel [we] really win games on a consistent basis.”

With fourteen pitchers on the roster, there is no shortage of arms in the Seawolves’ bullpen.

Junior Brandon McNitt, who saw time in the College World Series last year, giving up just four earned runs against Florida State, will be Senk’s number one, followed by fellow junior Frankie Vanderka, who hurled a complete game against LSU in June to send the Seawolves to Omaha.

“It’s really kind of just trying to be strong in all areas, but it starts with pitching and defense,” Senk said. “We feel that as the season goes on, we do a lot of things offensively that allow us to do what we do to win games.”

Before the home opener at Joe Nathan Field on March 6, Stony Brook will travel South to compete in three weekend series.

This past weekend, they traveled to Miami, where they dropped all three games against Florida International University.

After Friday’s game was postponed due to rain, the teams played a doubleheader on Saturday, losing 10-4 and 3-0. Despite a stellar debut from Zamora on Sunday, they again fell to FIU, 1-0.

The winningest team in the nation last June, the Seawolves hope to redeem themselves next weekend when they travel to Chapel Hill, N.C. to play a three-game series against North Carolina.

Despite the losses, by “reloading” and not rebuilding, Senk is confident he has built a squad that can keep up Stony Brook’s winning legacy.

“I go into every season optimistic, we definitely have some challenges with losing as many players as we did, but I think we have a good group,” he said. “I feel like we can reach our goals and, once we get into tournament play, I think what we’ve done in the past, that experience will help us.”