The Stony Brook baseball team was able to bounce back from a middle-game blowout to win the series against UMBC.
A pair of one-run wins sandwiched a blowout loss this past weekend for the Seawolves (17-20, 12-6 AE), as their trip down to Baltimore, Maryland wound up being an overall positive experience. The series saw much better starts from Stony Brook’s pitchers, while the bats delivered a couple of timely hits en route to winning two out of three.
“The guys did a terrific job of grinding out today’s and Friday’s games to earn a hard-fought series win,” head coach Matt Senk said in a press release.
UMBC controlled the majority of game one, backed by a strong outing from starting pitcher Jayden Shertel. Shertel allowed only two earned runs on four hits in 5.2 innings, holding down a strong Seawolves lineup. The runs came on solo homers from Seawolves third baseman Evan Giordano and designated hitter Ryan Micheli.
Opposite him, Stony Brook starter Ben Fero had an up-and-down day, allowing four earned runs on seven hits. He did give the Seawolves good length, tossing six innings for his team.
After first baseman Luke Johnson hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh, UMBC led 5-2 heading to the eighth inning. That was when the Seawolves’ bats came to life. Catcher Shane Paradine drove in a run with an RBI groundout, and left fielder Matt Brown-Eiring followed him with his sixth home run of the year.
Now trailing 5-4, the Seawolves struck for two more in the ninth to take the lead. A passed ball from UMBC catcher Tony Krueger led to center fielder Cole Durkan scoring the tying run. Then, another RBI groundout from Paradine gave Stony Brook a 6-5 lead.
Reliever Brendan Pattermann got the first two outs of the ninth, but also walked a pair and was pulled in favor of lefty Devin Sharkey. Sharkey walked a batter to load the bases but struck out designated hitter Michael Cilio to earn the save for Stony Brook.
Winning game one by the skin of their teeth, the Seawolves could not replicate their success on Saturday.
Game two was a blowout, as UMBC won 10-3 to force a rubber match. It was to no fault of pitcher Brandon Lashley, who had one of his better starts of the season. He went five innings for Stony Brook, allowing two earned runs on four hits, striking out two and walking one. The bullpen, however, was roughed up for eight earned runs over the final three innings.
Opposite Lashley was the Retrievers’ starter Nick Remy, who dominated the Seawolves lineup. Remy lasted 6.1 innings, allowing only three hits and one earned run. He struck out six, walked three and held UMBC scoreless until the seventh inning.
By the time the Seawolves found the scoreboard, UMBC had already scored six times. Five of their runs came in a big sixth inning, carried by a pair of two-RBI singles from Johnson and shortstop Drew Roberts. First baseman Brett Paulsen broke up the shutout for Stony Brook, but it was answered with a two-run homer from Krueger.
Paradine salvaged his day with a two-run homer of his own.
Game three saw a back-and-forth performance, and Stony Brook got the best of UMBC to win 6-5. Freshman left-handed pitcher Colton Book made the start with Quinlan Montgomery dealing with tightness in his forearm. Book made the most of his opportunity, allowing no earned runs — two total — through five innings of work, striking out four and walking one.
Brown-Eiring started the scoring with a two-run single in the top of the fourth. However, after second baseman Matt Miceli committed an error in the bottom of the third, UMBC tied the game with a two-run double.
In the top of the fifth, Brown-Eiring broke the tie with an RBI double. Now leading in the top of the sixth, Miceli made up for his error with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-2. However, Miceli made another crucial error in the bottom of the sixth, and it led to two more unearned runs scoring off of reliever Josh O’Neill to tie the game.
With the game still even in the top of the eighth, Durkan unleashed a clutch two-run homer to right field to break the tie for good. Now up 6-4 in the bottom of the ninth, UMBC attempted a rally and drew within a run on a Krueger RBI single. However, O’Neill bowed his neck and got the final two outs to strand the runners and secure the win for Stony Brook.
The Seawolves have now won five of their six series to start the conference season but are three games behind Maine in the conference standings, as the Black Bears just swept UMass Lowell and have won nine in a row.
Stony Brook has another midweek game, this time against Fairfield (23-15, 12-3 MAAC) on Wednesday, April 27. The Stags just swept Saint Peter’s in a three-game series, finishing with a seven-inning perfect game from starter Jake Noviello on Sunday. The first pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. as the Seawolves will look to capture their sixth non-conference win of the season.
