A dominant day by the Stony Brook pitching staff and a 10-hit day by the offense lifted SBU over visiting NYIT on Tuesday, 6-0.
The Seawolves (13-24, 6-9 AE) blanked the Bears just a day after losing 10-0 to Bryant University, who are on a 19 game winning streak.
“Today was a good bounce back win off a very tough loss yesterday, so it was good to get a win,” head coach Matt Senk said.
The Bears started the game off with a single, but struggled to get hits off freshman starter Tyler Honahan, who threw a career-high nine strikeouts over four innings.
Honahan was followed on the mound by Chad Lee in the fifth and then Kenny Ball in the ninth, making today’s pitching an all-freshmen affair. Altogether, they struck out 15 batters.
“At one point – until we replaced [Austin] Shives at shortstop – we had a freshman at second, short and third [as well],” Senk said. “It was a good day to get a lot of freshmen a lot of playing time.”
The 3-29 Bears had a tough time against Stony Brook bats, with SBU getting 10 hits, including four doubles.
The Seawolves took advantage of NYIT’s shaky play, with lead-off batter Jack Parenty scoring their first run on a wild pitch after stealing two bases.
“Teams with a record like that, usually they don’t control the run game very well, so we stole some bases today,” Senk said. “And then of course, you can go up to the plate and be more aggressive as well.”
SBU added another run in the first, another in the second and then two more in the third. A final run off an RBI double from freshman Shives rounded out the scoring for SBU.
“They’re not really running guys out there that have had velocity or “fast pitches,” Senk said.
Seven of the eleven Seawolves who batted got hits, with senior Tanner Nivins, junior Josh Mason and freshman Brett Tenuto each going 2-for-4.
After earning its third shutout of the season, Stony Brook looks to begin the second half of conference play, taking on first-place Maine at Maine on Saturday. The Seawolves are hoping to rise from their current spot in second-to-last place in the America East conference.
“It was a very good day, it was good to get a win going into the second half of the conference season against a very good Maine team,” Senk said.
