Timely hitting and heavy lifting from the bullpen propelled the Stony Brook baseball team to a win over an in-state foe.
Having won all three of their midweek games so far this season, the Seawolves (11-11, 1-2 CAA) welcomed the Iona Gaels (7-15, 2-4 MAAC) on Tuesday at Joe Nathan Field. Despite going down 1-0 in the first, the Stony Brook offense exploded while seven different pitchers contributed in a 10-3 victory.
With a scalding hot offense, the pitching staff had let down the Seawolves in their weekend loss to Delaware. The struggles on the mound appeared to continue from the start, as Iona put the first run across courtesy of a double off the right-field fence by first baseman James Kemp.
However, the pitching locked in from there. After Matt Sgambati pitched the first inning, relief pitcher Ty Panariello went the next three innings, allowing just one run. In his last 10 innings, Panariello has allowed just one earned run.
“I’m just trying to get as many outs as I can in as few pitches as possible,” Panariello said in a postgame interview with The Statesman. “I really try to get ahead. Start with strike one and then it’s a matter of getting to two strikes. If I don’t get the strikeout, we’ve got a great defense that I can trust behind me.”
Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the second, the Seawolves plated three against Iona starter Danny Onorato. With two men aboard, center fielder Chris Carson parachuted a single into right-center field to score the equalizer. Next, shortstop Matt Miceli looked at ball four, which ended up at the backstop and scored catcher Scott Gell from third. Third baseman Evan Goforth then flew out to deep center, but Carson came across to put Stony Brook up 3-1.
The Seawolves added two in the next inning, starting with designated hitter Nico Azpilcueta. Leading off the frame, Azpilcueta jumped on the third pitch from Iona reliever Tyler Lender and smoked a line drive-home run over the left field wall — his fifth of the season.
“When I go up, I’m just looking to square the ball up,” Azpilcueta said. “When I go to the pull side, that usually works pretty well. I knew I got that one pretty good, I definitely knew it was gone.”
Later in the frame, Stony Brook tacked on again as Miceli pulled a ground ball through the hole between third and short, scoring right fielder Chanz Doughty.
The Seawolves defense paid dividends for reliever Ryan Dieguez in the top of the fifth, as he induced a double play which was Stony Brook’s 26th of the season — the most nationally.
After Iona scored a run in the top of the fourth, Doughty was on the other side of a run batted in (RBI) in the home half, singling in pinch runner Mike Villani — who replaced second baseman Johnny Pilla after an awkward double play knocked him out — to make the score 6-2.
Stony Brook scored one in the seventh, before Doughty started the eighth inning with a long home run. Before the inning’s end, Miceli chipped in a sacrifice fly to score the tenth run of the ball game, before first baseman Erik Paulsen moved to the mound for the final inning and closed out the game with a scoreless frame.
“The mindset of this team as opposed to a year ago, is that no matter the game or the opponent, we need to play our best,” head coach Matt Senk said. “These guys are coming out and looking at every game as an opportunity and a challenge and they come out ready to play. It’s really good to see.”
Offensively, Stony Brook was relentless as it scored double-digit runs for the seventh time this season. As a unit, the Seawolves tallied 11 hits and slugged a pair of home runs.
Doughty was the biggest contributor, reaching base in all four plate appearances as he went 3-for-3 with a walk. His home run was his fifth of the season, which tied him with Azpilcueta for the team highwater mark.
Miceli had a perfect day, notching a pair of hits in his only two official at bats and walking twice. He drove in two runs, scored once and stole a base.
Azpilcueta went 1-for-4 with a home run, two RBIs and a walk. Goforth and Paulsen were key table setters as the former went 1-for-4 with a walk, a run scored and an RBI, while the latter had two hits in five at bats. Gell went 1-for-4 with the team’s lone double and scored on the wild pitch in the second inning.
As has been the case for the last two midweeks, Senk did not roll out a traditional starting pitcher. Sgambati, Panariello and Dieguez combined for the first five innings, before Vincent Mariella, Alex Jankowski, George Adams and Paulsen teamed up to close out the ballgame.
Collectively, they allowed three runs on six hits and walked four while striking out three.
“I’m not sure that we could implement this [bullpen] model during a full weekend series, but we’re exploring all options,” Senk said. “I liked what I saw today. We’re going to have to pitch better this weekend [than last weekend] but hopefully, things are starting to turn around on the pitching front.”
Even with a strong effort on the mound today, the Seawolves have a tall task in order for their next series starting Friday, as they host the Northeastern Huskies. The Huskies are 14-8 overall and 2-1 in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play after taking two games from Towson to start their league slate. Before heading to Long Island, Northeastern will take part in a showdown of the Huskies taking on the University of Connecticut in Brookline, Mass. on Wednesday. First pitch on Friday is set for 2 p.m.
