Everything went the wrong way for the Stony Brook baseball team this past weekend, ending its season early for the second consecutive year.
With four teams vying for the final two spots in the 2024 Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) baseball tournament, the Seawolves (24-28, 12-15 CAA) were left on the outside looking in after being swept by the Northeastern Huskies (38-15, 17-9 CAA) in Boston. Stony Brook saw an early lead slip away in a 6-4 loss in game one of Friday’s doubleheader before losing a lopsided 11-0 affair in the nightcap. On Saturday, the team was handed a 12-3 pounding by Northeastern to end the season on the wrong foot.
The Seawolves got an extra day to prepare for the Huskies when game one — which was originally scheduled for Thursday at 3 p.m. — was rained out until the next day. That appeared to help them at first, as designated hitter Erik Paulsen lifted a sacrifice fly into center field with runners on the corners in the top of the first inning. Center fielder Cam Santerre then swiped second and third base on consecutive pitches before left fielder Matt Brown-Eiring grounded out to drive him in and double the early lead.
Their short-lived advantage evaporated immediately, starting with a double by Northeastern center fielder Mike Sirota. Sirota ripped a line drive to left field that cleared the fence, but Brown-Eiring leapt and deflected it back into play, forcing him to settle for the double. First baseman Tyler MacGregor then crushed a fly ball to dead center field that skipped over the fence for a ground-rule double, and left fielder Alex Lane followed with a run-scoring single into right.
In the bottom of the third inning, the Huskies broke the 2-2 tie when second baseman Luke Beckstein hit a sacrifice fly to score right fielder Cam Maldonado. The lead held until the top of the fifth, when third baseman Evan Fox deposited a 1-1 fastball from Northeastern starting pitcher Wyatt Scotti over the left-field wall to tie it up.
In the home half of the fifth frame, the Huskies went back on top when Sirota pulled a single through the left side to bring home Maldonado for the run batted in (RBI). In the top of the seventh, Stony Brook knotted it up when right fielder Matty Wright came around to score from second base on a throwing error by Northeastern shortstop Jack Goodman after a ground ball from Santerre.
However, the Huskies punched back immediately with the decisive blow in the bottom of the seventh inning after head coach Matt Senk pulled starting pitcher Colin Rhein in favor of relief pitcher Brendan Pattermann. Rhein allowed four runs on seven hits over six innings while striking out four batters and walking one.
Pattermann issued a one-out walk to Maldonado, who stole second and third base before Sirota poked a single the other way to regain the lead. Now with two outs, Sirota took off for second, stealing it easily before advancing to third on catcher Ryan Micheli’s second throwing error of the day. MacGregor then laced a sinking line drive to center field that alluded Santerre and kicked off his glove, allowing Sirota to score.
The Seawolves’ offense went down quietly over the final two frames, as they left two runners on base in the top of the eighth before going down 1-2-3 in the ninth to seal the opening-game loss.
In the second game of Friday’s twinbill, Northeastern put the game away straight from the get-go against starting pitcher J.T. Raab — who turned in the worst outing of his career.
On just Raab’s fourth pitch of the game, Sirota singled home Beckstein just four pitches into the game. MacGregor then drilled a double to left field to put two men in scoring position. Raab then threw a wild pitch that allowed Sirota to score. After Lane struck out, third baseman Jack Doyle grounded a ball to short that shortstop Matt Miceli fielded and threw away to allow Sirota to score. A batter later, Goodman launched a two-run homer to hand Stony Brook an early five-run deficit.
The Huskies matched their first inning total with another five-spot in the bottom of the second, starting with a two-run single by MacGregor. Senk then pulled the plug on Raab and brought in relief pitcher Quinlan Montgomery, who was greeted with double-steal and a two-RBI single by Goodman to make it a 9-0 ballgame. Goodman’s hit gave Raab an ugly final line: nine runs (eight earned) on seven hits, a hit batsman and a wild pitch over 1 ⅔ innings pitched with four strikeouts.
Northeastern’s pitching staff proceeded to dominate by committee, as five pitchers combined for a six-hit shutout, capping off an 11-0 victory and securing a series win. Starting pitcher Jack Bowery went five innings in the win, allowing just three hits and no walks while striking out four.
Montgomery lasted 3 ⅓ innings in relief, allowing just two runs on nine hits while striking out four batters. Relief pitcher Jerek Hobb finished the game for the Seawolves, issuing a hit, a walk and two hit-by-pitches while whiffing three over three scoreless innings.
After the conclusion of game two, Stony Brook had fallen to seventh place in the CAA, as Hofstra had won its first two games against Monmouth to leapfrog it in the standings. William & Mary lost its first two games against Campbell, but because it owned the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Seawolves, it stayed in the playoff picture as the sixth seed.
In order for Stony Brook to have made the playoffs, it would have needed to beat the Huskies on Saturday and have the Camels beat the Tribe in game three of that series.
The Seawolves got off to a good start, as Brown-Eiring then dumped a ball into left-center to drive in Fox in the top of the first inning. Second baseman Johnny Pilla then singled before first baseman Brett Paulsen lined a base hit into right field to score Brown-Eiring and make it 2-0.
Northeastern responded immediately with a solo home run from Beckstein off Erik Paulsen, who made his first career start on the mound. Stony Brook got that run back in the top of the second inning when Micheli led off with a double and later scored on a groundout by Fox.
From there, it was all Huskies, starting with a sacrifice fly by catcher Gregory Bozzo in the bottom of the second inning. In the next frame, with two runners on base and one out, Lane laced a single to left-center field. Senk then pulled Paulsen for relief pitcher Ty Saunders, who failed to help the cause.
Sirota and Lane kicked off Saunders’ outing by pulling off a double steal to set up an RBI groundout by Doyle. Goodman followed with a single to score Lane and make it 5-3. In the bottom of the fourth inning later, Sirota dug out an RBI triple before MacGregor chased him home with a double. Two batters later, Doyle lined a run-scoring single to make it 8-3.
MacGregor notched a two-run single in the bottom of the fifth inning to go up 10-3. Northeastern tacked on a run in the sixth on an opposite-field RBI single by Bozzo and another on a double-play ground ball from Lane to put on the game’s finishing touches.
The loss eliminated Stony Brook from playoff contention for the second-straight year, but a win would not have helped, as William & Mary beat Campbell anyway.
Erik Paulsen struggled in his first start, lasting just 2 ⅓ innings and giving up five runs on five hits while striking out two and walking one. After him, Saunders allowed three runs on four hits, two walks and a hit batsman over 1 ⅔ innings and only struck out one hitter. Relief pitcher Nick Rizzo allowed four runs (three earned) on four hits and four walks with only one strikeout across 2 ⅔ innings pitched.
At the plate, Brett Paulsen went 6-for-10 with an RBI and two walks. Brown-Eiring had a hit in each game, going 3-for-11 with two RBIs and a run scored. Pilla also went 3-for-11 and doubled once. Third baseman Evan Goforth played in only two games but contributed a 2-for-6 effort.
Senk did not speak to the media after any of the three games.
With their 2024 season now in the books, the Seawolves will turn their attention to the offseason, where many big departures and big decisions loom.
