With an entire week to set its sights on the Battle of Long Island, the Stony Brook baseball team swept its rival to claim a third-consecutive Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) winning weekend.
The Seawolves (20-16, 8-7 CAA) made the short trip to Hemstead, N.Y. to take on the Hofstra Pride (13-27, 3-12 CAA) for a three-game set. Stony Brook bookended the series with a pair of run-rule victories — 17-3 on Friday and 10-0 on Sunday — accompanied by a 7-5 victory on Saturday to secure the sweep.
Last season, the Pride took two out of three from the Seawolves at Joe Nathan Field, kickstarting a run of three consecutive losing weekends that knocked Stony Brook out of playoff contention.
“Hofstra has done some great things since they got their new coaching staff in 2022,” head coach Matt Senk said in an interview after Saturday’s game with The Statesman. “They won a conference championship their first year, they’ve made the tournament the two years after that. To be able to sweep them and help ourselves, but also to have some success against a team that we haven’t done well against in recent years is really great.”
Friday’s game was competitive for all of an inning. In the top of the second, left fielder Chris Carson dragged a bunt single with one out to score the game’s first run. With two runners still aboard, third baseman Brett Davino took Hofstra starter Sean Hamilton over the trees and beyond the right-field fence to plate three. His first longball of the season made it 4-0 Seawolves.
After the homer, Hamilton continued to struggle, walking shortstop Matt Miceli and giving up a hit to first baseman Erik Paulsen. Designated hitter Nico Azpilcueta then took ball four to load the bases. Stony Brook had batted around, as right fielder Chanz Doughty, who started the inning with a single, came up once again. In his second trip to bat in the frame, Doughty jumped on Hamilton’s first offering, leaving the park in grand style to double the lead.
In the third, catcher Luke Szepek led off with a double before Carson went deep to make it an even 10 runs for the Seawolves. Later in the inning, Paulsen delivered a two-run single ahead of a run-scoring double by Azpilcueta, which put Stony Brook up 13-0.
On the other side, starting pitcher Eddie Smink cruised through the first three innings, allowing three hits and no runs. Hofstra finally cracked the scoreboard in the fourth as left fielder Dom Camera doubled with one out and scored on a double by catcher Nick Biddle.
The Seawolves added two more in the fifth inning, as Szepek singled home a run with two outs. Then, Carson belted a ball to center field that eluded Hofstra center fielder Michael Craig for a run-scoring triple.
Ahead 15-1, Stony Brook scored twice in the seventh on a pair of bases loaded walks. Looking the run-rule square in the eyes, the Pride got two back in the seventh on a two-run triple by third baseman Dylan Palmer. Still leading 17-3, Smink got Craig to ground out to Paulsen to finish off his complete game and take the series opener.
Smink had arguably his best start of the season, going seven innings while allowing three runs on three hits and four strikeouts. Most notably, for the first time in 2025, Smink did not allow a single free pass.
“[Smink] didn’t walk anybody,” Senk said. “It’s something we try to preach to all our guys and [Smink] did a good job of that. He was really solid. No walks, limited his misses, so hopefully he’s back where he needs to be. Couldn’t happen at a better time.”
The convincing win put the Seawolves in a good position to take the series on Saturday, as they took their hot bats into the second game.
After Hofstra starter Jackson Bauer recorded two quick outs in the second inning, Carson and Davino drew back-to-back walks to put a pair of runners aboard. Shortstop Matt Miceli then dunked a ball in front of Craig to score the game’s first run. Stony Brook was not done there, as center fielder Nick Zampieron lined a ball into right-center for a double and a run batted in (RBI). Next up, Paulsen made it 4-0 with a two-run single to right field.
An inning later, the Pride offense finally woke up. Facing starting pitcher Ty Panariello, second baseman Tyler Castrataro opened the third inning with a solo shot to get Hofstra on the board. After Panariello registered a strikeout, Palmer doubled before Biddle brought him home with a single.
Following a hit by Hofstra designated hitter C.J. Griggs — which put the tying run on base — right fielder Luke Masiuk ambushed Panariello’s first offering and belted it out to left, giving the Pride their first lead of the series.
However, the lead was short-lived. Miceli walked to open Stony Brook’s half of the fourth and after a walk by Paulsen, Azpilcueta took control of the game. In a 1-2 hole, Azpilcueta slammed his CAA co-leading 13th home run of the season — a tape-measure three-run shot — to put the Seawolves back in front 7-5.
“I was just trying to drive the ball and get something to hit,” Azpilcueta said. “[Bauer] came at me with the fastball up early in the count and I had a feeling he was going to try to go back to it. He did and I got it in a good spot.”
Panariello’s struggles continued into the next frame, as he allowed two singles and a walk to the four batters he faced in the home fourth inning. From there, Senk made the decision to pull the plug on his starter after 3 ⅓ innings, which saw him give up five runs.
Senk brought reliever Jacob Pedersen in out of the bullpen, inserting him into a high-leverage spot. After a full-count battle, Pedersen got Biddle to pop out to Doughty before inducing a ground ball from Griggs to escape the jam.
“I believe that pressure is a privilege,” Pedersen said. “I just need to keep executing, following the game plan and controlling what I can control. Once the ball leaves my hand, whatever happens happens. I just have to execute.”
Pedersen continued to dominate, using a double play to retire the side in the fifth, before Szepek nabbed Palmer trying to steal second to end the following frame.
From there, Pedersen got even stronger, retiring the Pride in order over the final three innings to secure the victory. After a lengthy relief outing last weekend, Pedersen once again turned in a gem out of the bullpen, going 5 ⅔ innings while allowing two hits and no walks. Along the way, he struck out four batters.
“A big part of our weight room routine and our throwing programs and conditioning is to build up our stamina,” Pedersen said. “There’s also the confidence aspect to it. As you get more confident on the mound, you get more sharp as the game goes on.”
In Sunday’s finale, starters John Rizzo and Tristan Nemjo matched zeros over the first two innings. After getting two quick outs in the top of the third, Nemjo allowed a single to Paulsen — the 100th hit of his collegiate career. On the next pitch, Azpilcueta belted a ball through the sharp wind, banging it off the left-field fence for a double that allowed Paulsen to cross home and put the Seawolves up 1-0.
That score would hold into the late innings as Rizzo sidestepped trouble in the bottom of the third and Nemjo got the help of an unassisted double play by shortstop Michael Brown to end the road fourth.
With one out in the bottom of the fourth, Castrataro was plunked before Camera singled to give the Pride their best shot to tie the game. Biddle then hit a ground ball into the hole between third and short where Miceli gobbled it up. The slow roller caused Miceli to hurry, getting it to second for one before second baseman Johnny Pilla got Biddle at first on the return throw to retire the side and keep Stony Brook’s lead intact.
“[Miceli and Pilla] work really hard defensively to get double plays and it’s something that we’re now nationally ranked in,” Senk said. “Aside from the three-run homers and the triple play,the double play is a huge way to swing momentum so that definitely was a huge play for us.”
After getting the two-ball, Rizzo retired each of the next six, getting the game to the seventh inning where the Seawolves’ offense once again put the game out of reach.
Szepek opened the inning with a double into the left-field corner. After a groundout, Davino sent one out for the second time on the weekend, slugging a ball towards the same trees that he cleared on Friday. Miceli and Zampieron followed with singles before Paulsen tucked a two-bagger inside the right-field line.
Azpilcueta and Doughty followed with consecutive doubles, with the former bringing home Paulsen. With runners at second and third, Pilla grounded out to extend Stony Brook’s lead to 7-0. Szepek then picked up his second hit of the frame — an RBI single. Carson kept the line moving with a single of his own ahead of Davino, who ripped a grounder past Hofstra first baseman Sean Lane for a run-scoring double. The Pride had issues getting the ball back into the infield, which allowed Carson to come around and let the Seawolves crack double-digits for the second time on the weekend.
Rizzo finished the game with a strikeout and a pair of ground balls, giving the Stony Brook staff its second seven-inning complete game of the weekend.
“Even though we run-ruled [Hofstra] twice, we still had two guys go seven innings,” Senk said. “I don’t know that we’ve had someone go seven all season prior to this weekend. The pitching was outstanding.”
In his eighth start of the year, Rizzo went the distance. Heavily relying on his heater, he allowed no runs on two hits and a walk while striking out just three batters.
“Of my 93 pitches today, 90 of them were fastballs,” Rizzo said. “My fastball is my best pitch and I am going to throw it until a team proves that they can hit it. Today that didn’t happen and my fielders made great plays behind me. I trust those 100% to pick me up because they’ve been doing it all year.”
The Seawolves’ offense stayed hot, scoring 34 runs across the three games, with the 17 runs on Friday being tied for their highest scoring output of the season.
Azpilcueta led the way, going 7-for-13 with six doubles, a home run, six RBIs and four runs scored. He had a pair of doubles in each of the three games and is tied with Paulsen for fifth in the CAA doubles. His 1.209 on-base plus slugging percentage also tops the conference.
Paulsen also had a big weekend, notching five hits in 13 at bats. He also drove in six runs and doubled, crossing the plate four times. Doughty went 3-for-12, but left the yard and doubled, driving in four.
Out of the leadoff spot, Zampieron picked up multiple hits in each game, going 6-for-13. He crossed the plate four times while picking up a double, a walk, a stolen base and an RBI.
Perhaps the greatest difference maker was the bottom half of the Stony Brook batting order. Szepek went 4-for-12 out of the six-hole in the lineup. He doubled twice, scored five runs and picked up two RBIs. Carson continued his strong sophomore season as he had five hits in 11 at bats. On Friday, he finished a double shy of the cycle while driving in four runs. Finally, Davino went 3-for-10, but hit two home runs and drove in six.
“The bottom of the order has been terrific,” Senk said. “As an opposing pitcher, you have to get through those guys at the bottom and then turn it around and see Zampieron at the top, so it’s difficult on guys. Those guys have definitely allowed us to have some big innings and score a lot of runs.”
With the sweep, Stony Brook thrust itself into a three-way tie for fourth-place in the CAA. Joining the Seawolves at 8-7 are the University of Delaware Blue Hens and North Carolina A&T Aggies. Stony Brook owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Aggies, but not the Blue Hens after playing both earlier this season.
Having won eight of their last 10 games, the Seawolves will have a pair of midweek tune-ups before starting their next slate of CAA games on Friday. On Tuesday, Stony Brook will make the trip to New Britain, Conn. to take on the Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) Blue Devils. This season, CCSU is 22-7 overall and 17-1 in Northeast Conference play, but lost its last two contests to Quinnipiac. Then, the Seawolves will welcome the Columbia Lions to Joe Nathan Field on Wednesday. The Lions are 18-16 overall and 11-4 in the Ivy League after sweeping Dartmouth in three games this past weekend. First pitch on Tuesday is set for 3 p.m. while Wednesday’s start is penciled in for 3:30 p.m.
