For the second consecutive season, the Stony Brook baseball team has lost five of its first six Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) games.
In a series that was reminiscent of last year’s season finale, the Seawolves’ (11-14, 1-5 CAA) pitching staff continued to struggle as they hosted the Northeastern Huskies (18-8, 5-1 CAA). In a weekend that dropped Stony Brook to the bottom of the CAA standings, the Huskies scored double digits in all three games, winning 10-4, 13-5 and 10-2.
The Seawolves had their work cut out for them before the series even began, as first baseman Erik Paulsen and second baseman Johnny Pilla were both out of the lineup with injuries throughout the weekend. This forced head coach Matt Senk to get creative with some of his lineups.
Friday’s series opener was a tight ballgame until late. Northeastern left fielder Harrison Feinberg opened the scoring with a solo homer in the second, but starter Eddie Smink settled down from there. On the other side, Northeastern starter Aiven Cabral allowed next to nothing over the first six innings.
Leading 1-0 in the fifth, the Huskies’ offense exploded against Smink. After a leadoff single, center fielder Cam Maldonado ripped a line-drive home run to left field. Two batters later, shortstop Jack Goodman snuck an outside breaking ball over the right-field wall to extend Northeastern’s lead to 4-0. Smink then got Feinberg to fly out before third baseman Jack Doyle capped off the inning with his team’s third home run of the frame — a solo shot to make it 5-0.
With Smink getting roughed up in the fifth, Senk went to pitcher Nicholas Rizzo out of the bullpen. Rizzo put the inning to bed with a ground out before notching a clean two innings to follow.
In the bottom of the seventh, Stony Brook chipped into the Huskies’ lead. After the first two men reached, designated hitter Scott Gell tucked a liner into the left-field corner to score a pair. Cabral was then lifted for relief pitcher Charlie Walker, who promptly allowed a run-scoring single to second baseman Brett Davino, cutting the deficit to 5-3. After a single by center fielder Chris Carson put a runner on third, shortstop Matt Miceli made it a one-run game with an infield bunt hit which scored Davino.
“[Cabral’s] pitch count and fatigue may have certainly been a factor, but I just think our approach in that inning was so much better than the first six innings,” Senk said in a postgame interview with The Statesman.
Unfortunately for Senk, that was as close as his side would get, as Doyle greeted Rizzo in the eighth inning with another home run. After Senk made the move to reliever Jacob Pedersen, Maldonado made it 7-4 with a sacrifice fly.
The Seawolves threatened in the home half, as Davino laced a two-out double into the right-field corner, but a stop sign from associate head coach Jim Martin halted right fielder Chanz Doughty at third base. Then, catcher Luke Szepek popped out in foul territory to retire the side.
Pedersen struggled to open the ninth, as Goodman walked before stealing second. Doyle then brought him in with a single and after a walk to Northeastern designated player Will Fosberg, first baseman Alex Lane split the gap in left-center field to bring home a pair.
Smink struggled overall, lasting just 4 ⅔ innings while allowing five runs on nine hits and two walks. He struck out four batters, but watched five of his pitches fly over the fence. Rizzo allowed a pair of runs in 2 ⅔ innings while Pedersen yielded three in 1 ⅔.
“It’s been a problem with many of our pitchers and that’s the lack of execution of pitches,” Senk said. “We can point things out as a coaching staff but at the end of the day, these guys have to execute and our execution has been horrendous.”
Stony Brook could not materialize any offense in the ninth outside of a double by Miceli, dropping the series opener in 10-4 fashion.
Game two was no better on the pitching front, as some warmer weather meant more home runs for Northeastern. Feinberg mimicked game one, leading off the second inning with a solo homer off starting pitcher George Adams. After two hits and a walk loaded the bases with two outs, Maldonado sent a sinking line drive into left field. Despite a diving effort, left fielder Matt Jackson could not get leather under it, trapping the ball against the outfielder turf to allow two Huskies to cross the plate.
The Seawolves got within a run in the bottom of the third, cracking Northeastern starting pitcher Jack Bowery. With two outs and a man on first, first baseman Nico Azpilcueta crushed a two-run homer to make it 3-2.
However, the ball kept on flying in the next half inning, with the Huskies putting four on the board. After an error and a single put two men aboard with nobody out, Maldonado ripped an opposite-field three-run bomb to extend the Northeastern lead to 6-2. Right fielder Ryan Gerety then chased Adams out of the game with a double, as Senk called on relief pitcher Ty Panariello who was greeted with a run-scoring double by Goodman.
Trailing 7-2, Stony Brook kept it a game in the bottom of the fourth. Szepek sent a booming two-run homer to left-center to cut it to a three-run game.
Panariello notched a zero in the fifth, but a home run by Goodman followed by a Feinberg single that opened the sixth inning ended his tenure on the mound. Relief pitcher Alex Jankowski made matters worse, allowing a single and a walk before Lane slugged a grand slam over the center-field batter’s eye to crack the game wide open.
“Our mindset is to fight and to get back into the game,” Senk said. “Then when it comes our turn to play defense and shut it down, we don’t really do our jobs. Our message is to not let [Northeastern] get the momentum back, but that’s obviously not what happened.”
Stony Brook scored once in the bottom of the sixth, but mustered just four hits and no runs over the final three frames.
“We keep making the same mistakes,” Senk said. “They’ve got a good team with good hitters but we can’t keep falling behind and walking guys. More of the same from last weekend.”
Looking to escape with at least one win on the weekend, Senk sent pitcher John Rizzo to the mound to start Sunday’s game. While Maldonado went bridge in the bottom of the first, the Seawolves got that run right back in the bottom half. Getting the start in center field, Nick Zampieron singled, stole second and scored on a wall-ball double from Azpilcueta.
Knotted at one, Stony Brook took its first lead of the weekend in the bottom of the fourth when Azpilcueta left the yard for his team-leading seventh time this year. Azpilcueta has now reached base in every game this season for the Seawolves and leads the team in walks, home runs and runs batted in (RBI).
“I was watching [Azpilcueta] at practice the other day, and he just looks so comfortable with everything he’s doing right now,” Senk said. “He has such a quiet confidence about him at the plate. The term that comes to mind for me is ‘locked in.’ He is every bit the hitter that we hoped we were going to get and he’s doing a great job.”
In the sixth inning, the game turned on its head. After allowing a leadoff double to Northeastern second baseman Carmelo Musacchia, John Rizzo induced a ground ball from Maldonado. He then looked to have Gerety struck out on a 2-2 pitch, but a controversial check swing went the Huskies way, eventually leading to a walk. The call sent the Stony Brook dugout — Senk included — into an outrage. Goodman then took advantage, blasting a three-run homer to give Northeastern a 4-2 lead.
“In my opinion, it was not only a strike in the zone, but it was a swing,” Senk said. “You go from what should’ve been a strikeout, to a walk and then [Goodman] got to an up-and-in fastball and hit it out.”
Feinberg then sent a squibber up the first-base line for a single, ending John Rizzo’s day after 5 ⅓ innings. After Feinberg eventually came around to score, Rizzo allowed five runs on five hits while walking two and striking out five.
“John [Rizzo] competed his ass off,” Senk said. “We needed a lot more guys that competed like that and overall we didn’t have it. The way we pitched this weekend, we put ourselves in a position to get our asses kicked and put ourselves in a position to lose three in a row.”
After John Rizzo’s departure, relief pitcher Vincent Mariella struggled to find the plate, hitting his first batter before walking two to force in a run. With two outs, Northeastern catcher Gregory Bozzo dropped down a bunt which plated one, but the trail runner was tossed at the plate to finally end the inning.
Free passes continued to plague the Seawolves in the following inning, as three walks, three hits and a hit batsman distributed by Mariella and reliever Matthew Canizares brought in four more runs. From there, Canizares shut it down, pitching the final 2 ⅔ innings scoreless while allowing a pair of baserunners.
“So far, we’ve played two teams with really good offense,” Senk said. “We have to keep the scoring that we’re allowing down. Outside of our win over Delaware where we allowed three, in every other game we’ve allowed 10 plus runs. I don’t know what sport, outside of maybe football, you can win while allowing that much.”
After allowing 26 runs last weekend, Stony Brook allowed 33 runs as a team across the weekend. The Seawolves staff surrendered 39 total hits, gave out 20 walks and gave up 12 long balls. The Huskies’ five home runs on Friday and Saturday, respectively, were tied for the most they have hit as a team this year.
Stony Brook did not put up the same fireworks as Northeastern, only putting up 11 runs in the three games.
Azpilcueta was the leader on offense, going 5-for-12 with three runs scored, two doubles, two home runs and four RBIs. His seven dingers place him in a three-way-tie for seventh in the CAA.
Beyond him, Gell went 3-for-12 with two runs scored, two doubles and two RBIs. Szepek had a strong weekend, leaving the yard as part of his three hits in 10 at bats. He drove in a pair and scored a run.
Miceli also went 3-for-10 with a pair of RBIs and a double. Davino went 2-for-7 before being pinch hit for on Sunday. He doubled, drove in a run, stole a base and scored once. Getting his first extended playing time of the year, Zampieron went 2-for-5 with a run scored, a walk and a stolen base.
Doughty, Goforth and Jackson struggled as they each hit in the top two spots in the order at various times throughout the series. As a trio, they went a combined 3-for-34 with two runs scored. Jackson doubled in Friday’s loss.
The Seawolves’ defense was the one brightspot. As a team, they committed just one error on the weekend while the Huskies made four.
With many problems to work out — including team health — Stony Brook will get a chance to get itself right on Tuesday with a home contest against the Manhattan Jaspers, who have gone 10-16 this season. Manhattan is coming off a series win over Quinnipiac which improved their record to 5-7 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play. First pitch from Joe Nathan Field is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
