After being relatively quiet for most of the game, the Stony Brook baseball team’s bats came alive in the bottom of the eighth inning to secure the runaway victory.
In their second midweek game in as many days, the Seawolves (12-12, 1-2 CAA) blew out the Fordham Rams (8-16) at Joe Nathan Field on Wednesday to get back to .500. Six different pitchers combined to deliver a successful bullpen day for Stony Brook, while its offense boarded 27 baserunners, culminating in a 14-3 stomping.
The game was rather slow and ordinary through the first seven and a half innings. First baseman Brett Paulsen singled home left fielder Matt Brown-Eiring in the bottom of the first to start the scoring. Over the next four frames, center fielder Cam Santerre and Brown-Eiring each scored a run on variations of pitches in the dirt to extend the Seawolves’ lead to 3-0.
Stony Brook scored just three runs on four hits through the first six innings and led 3-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh, where first baseman Erik Paulsen led off with a home run to right-center field. After that, the firework ceremony began.
The Seawolves scored 11 runs between the seventh and eighth innings to blow the doors off. Head coach Matt Senk attributed the late-game breakout to the momentum swing created by Paulsen’s bomb.
“Erik’s big swing definitely loosened everybody up for the rest of the game,” Senk said in a postgame interview with The Statesman. “[We were] not coming through early on … I think it was more some guys in those situations that struggled more than the entire team, but Erik’s home run definitely opened things up for the rest of the game.”
Later in the bottom of the seventh inning, with the bases loaded and two outs, shortstop Matt Miceli walked to force in a run and make it 5-1. In the home half of the eighth, with the bases loaded and one out, first baseman Brett Paulsen lined a sacrifice fly to right field to drive in a run. After that, designated hitter Nick Solorzano walked to load the bases before Santerre was plunked in the back with a fastball to force in another run. With Miceli at the plate and the bases loaded, a fastball got by Fordham catcher Tommy McAndrews and went to the backstop, allowing another run to score and make it 8-1.
Miceli drew a walk to reload the bases for catcher Ryan Micheli, who did the same to drive in a run. Right fielder Matty Wright followed suit by wearing a pitch off his back to force in another run before third baseman Cal Parrillo grounded a pinch-hit single through the middle to score a pair. The barrage continued when right fielder Rob Taylor worked a pinch-hit walk, setting up third baseman Joe DeLanzo to drive in another run with a pinch-hit hit-by-pitch.
With the bases still loaded and two outs, the ball found the backstop once again, allowing Parrillo to motor his way across the plate for the ninth and final run of the inning — all of which scored with two away.
In the top of the ninth inning, the Rams scored a pair of meaningless runs off relief pitcher Ty Saunders before fellow relief pitcher Brendan Pattermann got the final two outs to seal it.
Senk opted for a bullpen day instead of giving one starting pitcher a heavy workload, and the results were exactly what he wanted.
“Credit to them,” Senk said. “They really haven’t seen the innings on weekends … so for those guys to come out here in the midweek — haven’t had a lot of innings over the last couple of weeks — and throw the way they did, that’s a real credit to them. I’m really happy for them, and that bodes well for us moving forward.”
Relief pitcher Quinlan Montgomery got the start and pitched two hitless innings while walking two and striking out one. Relief pitcher Ty Panariello replaced him and tossed a pair of scoreless frames, allowing a hit and a walk en route to his first career win. After that, left-handed relief pitcher Jerek Hobb pitched two perfect innings and struck out a pair. Pattermann finished the game and retired both hitters he faced — the second of which came via strikeout.
The only arms who struggled were Saunders and relief pitcher Ty Stout. Stout allowed just one run in two innings, but walked three and allowed two hits while striking out one. Saunders got just one out and surrendered a pair of runs on two hits, a walk and a hit batsman.
At the plate, Brown-Eiring led Stony Brook by going 3-for-4 with a double, a walk and three runs scored. After falling into a 3-for-22 skid, Brown-Eiring is now 7-for-14 with four doubles over his last three games.
He credited his newfound hot streak to his mental fortitude.
“A big part of it is mental,” Brown-Eiring said. “Staying confident in my swing, trusting my ability in my hands. The mental part of it is just being confident, knowing that my ability at the plate is better than most of the pitching we will see.”
Brett Paulsen was the only other Seawolf with multiple hits, as he went 2-for-4 with a sacrifice fly and two runs batted in. He said his good performance came from playing his brand of baseball.
“Just staying to my strengths: working the middle of the field, opposite field and just driving in runs,” Paulsen said.
Stony Brook will remain at Nathan this weekend when it takes on the Charleston Cougars for a three-game series. The Cougars are 14-9 and 1-2 in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play this year after losing 13-3 to Georgia Southern on Tuesday. First pitch of the set is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Friday.