The Stony Brook baseball team played back-to-back games against teams from New York, and won both games. They defeated Iona on Tuesday 6-4 in comeback fashion in New Rochelle, and defeated Manhattan today 16-4 at Joe Nathan Field.
The Seawolves struck first in the first game, with Cole Peragine turning a hit by pitch into an unearned run off, a series of errors and wild pitches. Iona struck back with a run in the third, and then put Stony Brook against the ropes with a three run frame in the fourth. However, the Seawolves responded instantly in the fifth, as Kevin Courtney drove in a run with a single and Toby Handley drove in two more with a single of his own. The eventual winning run came off a pair of doubles from Johnny Caputo and Anthony Italiano.
The Seawolves’ offense was led by the normally light-hitting catcher Anthony Italiano, who had entered the game sporting a .260 batting average and a .596 OPS. He contributed a three-hit day, his first of the season, with two RBIs and a double.
Connor Doyle pitched decently in his spot start, allowing four earned runs in three and a third innings. He was outshined by reliever Cameron Stone, who continued his lights-out pitching this year, picking up the win with three scoreless innings. He’s sporting a 1.77 ERA on the year with a 26/9 K/BB ratio.
In the second game on Wednesday, the Seawolves jumped on the Jaspers and did not look back. The 16 runs the Seawolves drove home were a season high, their previous being 10 which they matched in just the first two innings.
“We’ve been doing that very well over the past couple of weeks,” said head coach Matt Senk, in regards to the hot batting.
After a couple of walks and a base hit filled the bases for the Seawolves in the second, Robert Chavarria popped a fly ball that scored Jack Parenty. After a pair of RBI singles by Cole Peragine and Kevin Krause scored two more for Stony Brook, the bases were loaded once again thanks to a Courtney walk. Peragine was 2-for-4 on the afternoon, Krause 1-4.
A spike down the middle by Casey Baker brought two Seawolves home, and a couple of doubles gave Stony Brook its sixth and seventh runs of the inning.
Up 10-0, Stony Brook coasted the rest of the way. Manhattan finally got on the board in the fifth, and Josh Barry was relieved for Joseph Guercio the inning following, having given up just four hits. The Seawolves would score three runs combined in the fifth and sixth, going up 13-1 entering the seventh.
Manhattan finally punched back with three runs in the seventh, but it was not nearly enough as the Seawolves went on to shut down the Jaspers in the final two innings.
Throughout the contest, Manhattan plagued themselves with unforced mistakes, finishing with five errors that allowed momentum-surging hits and eventually, runs.
The Seawolves are now 17-11 on the season, and play a three-game series with Binghamton this weekend.
