
Though it was able to salvage the series, the Stony Brook baseball team’s route to the 2024 Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) tournament is now much harder to navigate.
The Seawolves (23-22, 11-10 CAA) lost the Battle of Long Island to the Hofstra Pride (20-28, 10-11 CAA) this past weekend and made life much more difficult on themselves moving forward. Hofstra took the opener on Friday 3-2 before grabbing the Saturday game 4-0. Needing a win to avoid complete catastrophe, Stony Brook took the series finale 11-6 to maintain its lead over its crosstown rivals in the standings.
The Seawolves still sit in fifth place in the CAA, just one game behind Delaware for fourth and one ahead of sixth-place William & Mary. The Pride and the Tribe both have the same conference record and own the head-to-head tiebreaker over Stony Brook.
William & Mary and Hofstra are not scheduled to face each other in the regular season, meaning neither team can knock the other one off in the Seawolves’ favor. If all three teams finish with the same CAA record, Stony Brook will be the odd one out. With two of the top four teams in the conference remaining on its schedule, that is a realistic possibility.
Though the road to the tournament is a little less clear, head coach Matt Senk likes his team’s chances.
“I feel confident that we’ll play our baseball down the stretch,” Senk said in a postgame interview with The Statesman. “The biggest thing is the person that’s above us right now comes in next weekend so if you’re going to set it up, you couldn’t set it up any better than that. We look forward to the [Delaware] Blue Hens next weekend.”
Right-handed pitcher Colin Rhein toed the rubber against the Pride on Friday for just his second start of the year in place of injured ace starting pitcher Eddie Smink, whose season is over. Rhein exchanged zeroes with Hofstra starting pitcher Michael O’Hanlon through the first three innings.
Then came the top of the fourth inning, and the Seawolves finally fell into some trouble.
The Pride put a blemish on Rhein’s day, starting with first baseman Steve Harrington belting a solo home run off the top of the scoreboard in right-center field to put his side ahead. After a walk, stolen base and flyout, designated hitter Penn Sealey sliced a ball through the right side for a two-out single to collect the run batted in (RBI).
In the home half of the frame, shortstop Matt Miceli rifled a ball off O’Hanlon’s wrist. After long deliberation on the mound, O’Hanlon was given the okay to remain in the game. He took the chance and ran with it, retiring each of the next 14 hitters.
During his perfect stretch, Stony Brook surrendered an unearned insurance run in the top of the seventh inning after first baseman Brett Paulsen picked up a bunt by Hofstra shortstop Michael Florides and flipped it wildly to Rhein, who could not handle it. The throwing error moved catcher Matt Pelcher to third base, allowing second baseman Dylan Palmer to ground out and drive in a run to make it 3-0.
The extra run proved to be the difference after the Seawolves’ late rally. With the bases empty and one out, left fielder Matt Brown-Eiring singled through the left side and third baseman Evan Fox ripped a double down the left-field line to put two runners in scoring position. With the tying run at bat, the Pride turned to relief pitcher Mike McKenna, who got second baseman Johnny Pilla to fly out just feet from the fence in right-center field. Brown-Eiring scored and Fox advanced to third before scoring on a two-out RBI single by Miceli.
Miceli then moved into scoring position on a stolen base, but catcher Ryan Micheli flew out to end the game.
Despite the loss, Senk saw nothing new from his team.
“We’re in the position where we’re in the upper-half of the tournament conversation because these guys compete,” Senk said. “They’ve played hard all year and I fully expect that moving forward.”
Rhein gave Stony Brook a quality start, allowing just three runs (two earned) on seven hits, a walk and two hit batsmen over seven innings pitched while striking out four batters. Relief pitcher Brendan Pattermann kept the team in it by wasting three hits over two scoreless innings and striking out one. However, O’Hanlon was the story, as he allowed just two runs on four hits while whiffing eight and walking one over 8 ⅓ innings en route to the win.
Saturday’s affair followed an eerily similar, with both teams holding each other scoreless over the first four innings.
Hofstra rode an opposite-field solo home run by left fielder Will Kennedy off starting pitcher J.T. Raab to go in front in the top of the fifth inning. Kennedy aided in another Pride run in the seventh, as he ripped a sinking line drive with runners on second and third base. While right fielder Matty Wright made a sprawling catch coming in on the ball, Harrington tagged up and scored from third to make it 2-0. Later in the frame, Pelcher dug out an infield hit to bring in the second run of the inning and put the Seawolves in a three-run hole.
In the top of the eighth inning, Harrington put the game out of reach when he doubled to deep left field and drove in third baseman Santino Rosso.
While the insurance was an added bonus, Hofstra starting pitcher Carlos Martinez did not need it, as he blanked the Seawolves for eight innings while stranding six hits and three walks. He struck out nine to earn the win. In the bottom of the ninth inning, relief pitcher Russell Hunter sat down Stony Brook in order to claim the series.
Though he was overshadowed by Martinez, Raab turned in another quality start, allowing three runs on six hits with two strikeouts and no walks over six frames. Relief pitcher Erik Paulsen spelled him and allowed one run on five hits while striking out two without walking anyone.
In what became a must-win game, Senk sent relief pitcher Ty Saunders to the mound and gave him the start in the series finale over starting pitcher Nick Rizzo, who struggled mightily in April.
Getting just his seventh start of the year and his first in CAA action, Saunders got off to a good start, retiring nine of the first 12 batters that he faced.
Over the first three innings, Saunders tallied just two strikeouts, relying heavily on a strong supporting cast.
“I’m just trusting my defense,” Saunders said. “I know I have a really good defense behind me so my whole job is to just fill up the zone and let them play behind me.”
After getting back to the dugout, the Seawolves finally broke out offensively in the home half of the third inning. Leading off, Fox lined his second hit of the day before swiping second base. Miceli followed with a walk. Two batters later, Brown-Eiring shortened up and grounded one back through the middle to score them both and take a 2-0 lead. Micheli and Pilla then drew consecutive walks to load the bases for Brett Paulsen, who sat back on a breaking ball and drilled it into the left-field corner for a two-run double.
Paulsen was happy to see his team collect a few big hits after failing to do so in the prior couple of games.
“We struggled offensively the last four games,” Paulsen said. “Just like the coaches said ‘Pick the next guy up’ … and overall, collectively, that’s what we did today.”
With four runs already in, the bottom of the third inning was far from over. The Pride turned to relief pitcher Danny Kelleher, who uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Pilla to scamper home before committing a balk to force in Paulsen.
Now ahead 6-0, Saunders tossed a scoreless top of the fourth inning and allowed an unearned run after an error by Pilla in the fifth. With one away in the bottom of the fifth, Brett Paulsen tattooed another brooking breaking ball and sent this one over the fence in left-center field for his first homer of the season.
In the top of the sixth inning, Harrington drew a leadoff walk before Sealey deposited a Saunders fastball over the left-field wall. While rounding the bases, Sealey exchanged words with the Stony Brook bench, causing the umpires to convene and issue warnings to both benches.
After allowing the shot, Saunders completed the inning to close the book on his day: six innings pitched, three runs (two earned), four hits, three walks, four strikeouts.
With their lead cut to 7-3, the Seawolves added a run in the bottom of the seventh inning when third baseman Evan Goforth roped a double up the right-center field gap to chase home Pilla. In the next frame, Erik Paulsen blasted a ball to center field to bring in Miceli. Three batters later, Brett Paulsen capped off his big day with a two-run single into right to stretch the lead to 11-3.
In the top of the ninth inning, Pilla committed another error, opening the door for two unearned runs to score off Pattermann. Later in the frame, Harrington capped off his weekend with an RBI single, but it meant nothing in the end.
Pattermann pitched three innings in relief of Saunders and allowed just one earned run on three hits and two hit batsmen while fanning two batters to lock down his second save of the year.
Senk was pleased to see his veterans step up with the rest of the team mired in a rough stretch.
“It’s been a little bit of a tough stretch,” Senk said. “To break through today was big and when you get to this point in the season … for those veteran guys to do that, it was great to see.”
Brett Paulsen was Stony Brook’s top bat over the weekend. He went 6-for-12 with a double, a home run, five RBIs and two runs scored. The five RBIs on Sunday were his career high.
After him, Fox had a productive weekend by going 5-for-11 with a double, a walk, a hit-by-pitch, two runs scored and four stolen bases.
After being moved down in the order in the first two games, Fox returned to his typical leadoff role with lightning on Sunday, as all four of his steals came that day.
“I’m just getting back into my aggressive mindset,” Fox said. “I’ve been struggling so I was just trying to stick with it and stay positive.”
Erik Paulsen tallied a hit in each game, going 4-for-10 with a double, one RBI, one run and two walks. Brown-Eiring had a solid weekend at the plate, as he went 3-for-10 with two RBIs, three runs scored, three walks and a stolen base.
Across two relief appearances, Pattermann allowed three runs (one earned) on six hits with four strikeouts and no walks over five innings of work.
Before returning to their CAA programming, the Seawolves will travel back up to Connecticut for the second consecutive Tuesday to take on the Sacred Heart Pioneers. After the two team’s first meetings this year were canceled, the Pioneers will enter the affair at 26-20 after taking two of three from Wagner. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.