Stony Brook baseball was swept in a three-game series by East Carolina this weekend, all by one run. In Sunday’s finale, junior Travis Jankowski had three hits in five at-bats, while junior Maxx Tissenbaum went to 2-for-4 in the final game. Tissenbaum hit .545 (6-for-11) in the three-game series.
Junior Jasvir Rakkar threw 3.2 innings of relief for the Seawolves, who only allowed four earned runs in the series. East Carolina scored two runs in the second inning on a two-run single by Tim Younger. The Pirates added another two runs in the third inning to go up 4-0.
Stony Brook crept back by scoring runs in the sixth and seventh inning. The Seawolves scored on an RBI groundout from senior Pat Cantwell in the sixth and added an unearned run in the seventh to cut the lead in half.
Cantwell walked to lead off the eighth inning and eventually scored on the Pirates’ third error of the game. Stony Brook got the tying run on base in the ninth inning, when sophomore Kevin Courtney singled with one out. East Carolina’s Tanner Merritt got Jankowski to ground into a fielder’s choice, and then retired Cantwell to finish off the sweep.
Jharel Cotton allowed one unearned run in six innings to pick up the victory for the Pirates.
Sophomore Brandon McNitt only gave up one earned run on four hits in eight innings, but that was not enough, as East Carolina edged Stony Brook 2-1. McNitt struck out four in a complete game, but the team could not give him much run support.
Stony Brook outhit East Carolina 8-4, but could only manage one run in the game. The Pirates scored in the first inning on an unearned run, but the Seawolves tied in the third as junior Travis Jankowski scored on a two-out RBI single by freshman Kevin Krause.
Stony Brook threatened to score in the fifth, after Cantwell tripled with only one out. East Carolina pitcher Tyler Joyner got junior William Carmona and Tissenbaum out to end the threat.
Jay Cannon doubled to open the seventh inning for East Carolina, and then scored on a sacrifice fly from Philip Clark.
Drew Reynolds walked Jankowski with two outs in the ninth inning, but got Cantwell to ground-out to pick up his second straight save. Tanner Merrit pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless relief for the Pirates to pick up the victory.
Stony Brook also dropped the opener of the series by a score of 1-0 to East Carolina on Friday. Senior Tyler Johnson only allowed one run in eight innings, but that run was the only one scored in the game. Johnson walked two and allowed six hits in a complete game, but the loss snapped Stony Brook’s nation best 15-game road winning streak.
Left-hander Kevin Brandt gave up four hits in eight innings, and got the win for the Pirates.
Reynolds allowed a single to Cantwell in the ninth inning but still managed to pick up a save.
East Carolina scored the only run of the game in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly from Corey Thompson with the bases loaded.
The Seawolves’ best scoring opportunity came in the fourth, when they got runners on first and second with one out. But Brandt got junior Tanner Nivins to line into a double play to escape the jam.
Stony Brook will travel to Fairleigh Dickinson for a game on Wednesday.
