
With just two weeks left in the regular season, the Stony Brook baseball team has run itself fresh out of time for dillydallying.
For one last time at Joe Nathan Field this year, the Seawolves (23-23, 11-10 CAA) will host a three-game series against the Delaware Blue Hens (25-21, 12-9 CAA) with massive playoff implications. The series will begin at 2 p.m. on Friday followed by a 1 p.m. start on Saturday and a noon first pitch on Sunday.
Stony Brook enters this series in fifth place in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), just one game ahead of sixth-place William & Mary and seventh-place Hofstra in the standings. Delaware sits a game ahead of the Seawolves in fourth place. The playoff field is only six teams deep, so if the season ended today, both teams playing in this series would be locked into the 2024 CAA baseball tournament. Of course, that is not the case.
Stony Brook lost the season series to both the Tribe and the Pride, which means it owns neither tiebreaker. If all three teams finish with equal conference records, the Seawolves will be the ones left out of the playoffs. Not only that, but William & Mary has three games left against Towson — the worst team in the CAA — and Hofstra gets to end its regular season against Monmouth: the league’s second-worst team.
Because of that, there may not be any margin for error for Stony Brook, as external help will be hard to come by. The Seawolves will have to face the fourth-place Blue Hens and third-place Northeastern over the next two weeks, which will make wins hard to come by for them. If both the Pride and the Tribe win at least one more game over the next two weeks than they do, then they will be eliminated from playoff contention. If they finish at least one game ahead against one of those two teams while the other one overlaps them, they will make the tournament as the sixth seed.
Delaware swept Stony Brook when the teams met last year. In that series, the Seawolves blew six total leads and at least one in all three games. This time around, their pitching staff will have to do a significantly better job if they are to take the series from the Blue Hens.
Stony Brook’s pitching staff holds the fifth-best earned run average (ERA) at 5.17 in the CAA.
With ace starting pitcher Eddie Smink out for the year, the ball will go to starting pitcher Colin Rhein on Friday. Rhein has a 4.53 ERA in 45 ⅔ innings pitched. After a rough start to the season, Rhein has been dominant over his last seven outings, pitching to a 2.09 ERA and a 0.88 walks and hits per innings pitched (WHIP) over 38 ⅔ innings.
Behind Rhein will be starting pitcher J.T. Raab, who has thrown 64 ⅓ innings to the tune of a 3.34 ERA, which is the sixth-best mark in the CAA. Opponents have hit just .233 off Raab, which is the ninth-lowest mark in the conference.
If head coach Matt Senk rolls with the same starting rotation, then right-handed pitcher Ty Saunders will round out the weekend. He has a 6.41 ERA in 64 ⅓ innings pitched between both the rotation and the bullpen. Saunders is coming off his best start of the season, where he allowed just two earned runs in six innings pitched last Sunday.
Saunders has been very inconsistent this year, as has the other candidate to start: left-handed pitcher Nick Rizzo. Rizzo was a starting pitcher every week of this season until last week, when Senk shook things up. The move was necessary, as Rizzo has struggled mightily with an ERA of 10.26 and a walks per nine innings rate of 6.5 since March 30. Overall, Rizzo has a 5.40 ERA over 53 ⅓ innings, but he will likely still be one of the top options out of the bullpen, especially if needed for long-relief duties.
In the bullpen, the Seawolves’ top weapon is left-handed relief pitcher Erik Paulsen, who is a two-way first baseman that has pitched to a 2.43 ERA over 37 innings. He has notched five saves, which is tied for the third most in the CAA. Relief pitcher Brendan Pattermann has also been effective in his few appearances, as he has a 1.72 ERA in 15 ⅔ innings pitched while tallying two saves.
Delaware has the better bats in this matchup, as its .285 team batting average and .404 on-base percentage are the fifth-best marks in the CAA. It hits for elite power, evidenced by its .517 team slugging percentage: the third-best rate in the conference.
First baseman Eric Ludman has been the Blue Hens’ best overall hitter, as he leads the team and is sixth in the CAA with a .685 slugging percentage. His .480 on-base percentage also leads the team and ranks eighth in the conference. Ludman has notched 35 runs batted in (RBI) and slugged a team-best 13 home runs, which is tied for fifth in the league. His plate discipline is up there with the best, as his 36 walks are seventh amongst the field.
Another slugger in their lineup is right fielder Aaron Graeber, who is hitting .323 with 12 home runs and 45 RBIs while owning a .639 slugging percentage. Third baseman Joey Loynd is also in the double-digit home run club, as he has knocked 11 over the fence. On top of that, Loynd is batting .273 and leads the team with 12 doubles and 47 RBIs while also blasting 11 homers.
Delaware has more multifaceted hitters in its lineup than just those three power bats. Shortstop Brett Lesher has collected nine doubles, seven home runs and 42 RBIs on a .308 batting average. As for left fielder Andrew Amato, he is hitting .275 with 10 doubles and nine homers while driving in 39 runs. Center fielder Bryce Greenly has been big time with a .317 average, 11 doubles, seven bombs and 33 RBIs.
The Blue Hens’ best bat-to-ball hitter is second baseman Jake Dunion, who is eighth in the CAA with a .363 batting average. However, for undisclosed reasons, Dunion has been solely used as a pinch runner and defensive replacement over the last month. Instead, it will be second baseman Chris Dengler starting for them, as he has batted .305 with seven doubles, two home runs and eight RBIs this year in Dunion’s place.
Handling Delaware’s duties behind the plate is catcher Tyler Leach, who is batting .260 with nine home runs and 22 RBIs.
Platooning at designated hitter will be second baseman Aiden Stewart, left fielder Aidan Kane and catcher Josearmando Diaz, who are all left-handed bats. Stewart has provided productivity despite his .244 batting average with 10 doubles, 24 RBIs, 27 walks and a .384 on-base percentage. Kane has struggled to a .208 batting average, but his 25 walks and two hit-by-pitches have helped him amass a .351 on-base percentage, and he has slugged six doubles, seven home runs and driven in 24 runs. Diaz is batting .283 with a .416 on-base percentage with five doubles, four homers, 22 RBIs in 113 plate appearances.
While Stony Brook can rely on its pitching staff, its lineup has been a different story. The Seawolves have the second-worst batting average (.265), third-worst on-base percentage (.366), and are tied for the worst slugging percentage (.371) in the CAA.
Their offense is headlined by left fielder Matt Brown-Eiring, who has played and started all but one of their 46 games. He leads the team with a .318 batting average, a .492 slugging percentage, 57 hits, 14 doubles and 38 RBIs.
Center fielder Cam Santerre leads the team with a .467 on-base percentage and 37 runs scored. He is hitting .290 and has driven in 15 runs with seven doubles, two triples and a home run. Erik Paulsen has been the primary option at designated hitter all year and has posted a .310/.403/.468 slash line with 13 doubles, four homers and 22 RBIs.
Leading off will be third baseman Evan Fox, whose season has been hampered by a dislocated right shoulder and a torn labrum. The senior is slashing just .269/.364/.372 after entering this season with a career slash line of .311/.419/.495. He has still been active on the basepaths with 17 steals in as many tries, but he had averaged over 30 per year through his first three seasons. He has no triples this year and his power has taken an expected dip due to the injury, limiting him to just nine doubles and two home runs.
However, Fox has shown signs of a second wind as his career comes to an end. He went 5-for-11 with a double, a walk, a hit-by-pitch and four stolen bases — all of which came on Sunday — in last week’s series.
If Fox can stay hot and continue to get on from the top of the lineup, it will take more than just Santerre, Erik Paulsen and Brown-Eiring to put runs up. In the middle of the order is first baseman Brett Paulsen, who is batting .281 and leads the team with 25 walks, culminating in a .380 on-base percentage. He also has 21 RBIs, which is the fourth most on the team. Behind Paulsen will be second baseman Johnny Pilla, who is batting .266 with a .352 on-base and 10 doubles.
Stony Brook’s bottom of the order has been fine this year. Right fielder Matty Wright — the regular nine-hole hitter — will try to help set up the top of the order with a .293 batting average. In the eighth spot will be catcher Ryan Micheli is batting .276 with a .402 on-base percentage. Shortstop Matt Miceli has dropped to seventh in the order due to a slump that has spanned three weeks, but his 28 RBIs trail only Brown-Eiring on the squad’s leaderboard. He is hitting .251 this year and has made an impact on the bases with 11 steals and 29 runs scored while also playing superb defense.
While not being very powerful, the Seawolves can be dangerous on the basepaths. Their 75 stolen bases are the third-most in the conference. Fox leads the efforts as he has not been caught in 17 stolen base attempts. Santerre has stolen 14 bases on 16 attempts, while Pilla and shortstop Matt Miceli have 11 apiece. Brown-Eiring is the only other player with double-digit steals, as he has nabbed ten bags in 13 attempts.
Stony Brook makes a lot of contact, as its 255 team strikeouts are the fewest in the conference by far, with the next-closest adversary having 27 more. However, that will match up with a strength of the Blue Hens, as their .982 team fielding percentage is sixth in the nation.
The Seawolves will look to capitalize on Delaware’s weak pitching staff that has the fifth-worst ERA (6.55) in the CAA.
The Blue Hens’ weekend rotation begins with right-handed starting pitcher Doug Marose, who owns a 5.40 ERA in 56 ⅔ innings pitched. He has struck out 41 batters and walked just 14, which is the fourth-lowest mark in the league. Following him is left-handed starting pitcher Ethan Shaub, who has a team-best 4.21 ERA in 36 ⅓ innings pitched this season. Shaub is coming off his best start of the season in which he went five scoreless innings while striking out four in a 2-1 loss to Monmouth.
At the tail end of Delaware’s weekend rotation is right-handed starting pitcher Dom Velazquez, who has a 6.11 ERA and a 1.90 WHIP in only 10 ⅓ innings pitched.
The Blue Hens have a pair of left-handed relief pitchers they have relied upon this year: Anthony Gubitosi and Eli Atiya. Gubitosi has a 3.42 ERA and four saves in 26 ⅓ innings pitched. Atiya has pitched 44 ⅔ innings and has two saves this year, but he has struggled to a 6.25 ERA. Right-handed relief pitcher Tyler Stretchay will definitely get some innings after hurling five scoreless innings in his last outing, but he still owns a 5.52 ERA over 45 ⅔ frames of work.
There are three other guys in Delaware’s bullpen who get used often, but they have not been effective this year. However, none of its starters average over five innings pitched per start, so these guys have been used quite a bit and may very well reappear in this series.
Left-handed relief pitchers Carter Welch and Elias Conway have been used frequently, with the former pitching to a 6.83 ERA over 29 innings and the latter owning a 7.58 ERA in 19 innings. Right-handed relief pitchers Christian Colmery, Owen Margolis, Nate Rolka and Tyler August have all been used heavily. Colmery has a 6.30 ERA in 20 innings, followed by Margolis with a 6.83 ERA in 26 ⅓ innings. Rolka has struggled to a 9.13 ERA across 23 ⅔ frames, and August — the most-used of these six names — currently owns a 9.48 ERA over 43 ⅔ frames.
Due to it not owning the tiebreaker over Hofstra or William & Mary, Stony Brook is in a tough spot even if it wins this series. Even so, the best thing for the Seawolves to do is simply win the games on their schedule and hope the Pride and Tribe do not equal them in the victories column.