The Stony Brook offense was red hot this weekend as they swept the Binghamton Bearcats in three games. The Seawolves, who are now 20-11 overall and 7-1 in America East play, had 37 hits on the weekend.

They have won 20 of their last 25 games.

They took the first game on Saturday 3-1 and won the second game in extra innings, 5-4. Sunday’s game was a tour-de-force, as Stony Brook crushed the Bearcats, 12-2.

“It was a great weekend,” head coach Matt Senk said.

Starter Tim Knesnik shone in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, allowing just three hits and five walks over 5 2/3 shutout innings.

After the sophomore walked three consecutive batters with two outs in the top of the sixth, senior Bryan Tatelman came in and struck out Binghamton’s Brendan Skidmore to end the inning.

After four scoreless innings, the Seawolves jumped on the board in the fifth, scoring three runs off Binghamton’s Jack Rogalla right away.

A triple to left field from Jack Parenty scored freshman Toby Handley and sophomore Johnny Caputo.

The sophomore then scored himself when junior Kevin Krause knocked a single over the shortstop’s head to centerfield.

Stony Brook led 3-0 going into the eighth inning, but the Bearcats fought back.

Binghamton’s Zach Blanden scored and the tying run was on base, but freshman Cameron Stone came in and forced the end of the inning.

After pitching a 1-2-3 scoreless ninth, Stone recorded his sixth save of the season.

The second game of Saturday’s doubleheader was supposed to last only seven innings—instead, it went 10. The Seawolves took the game, 5-4, on a walk-off wild pitch.

The Bearcats led 4-3 going into the seventh, but Stony Brook refused to go down without a fight.

Junior Robert Chavarria drew a walk and then went to second when pitcher Mike Bunal tried to pick him off first and the throw went wild.

Senior Kevin Courtney then hit a fly ball to left field for what would have been the final out.

But, Binghamton left fielder Shaun McGraw dropped the ball, allowing Chavarria to score and tie the game.

Courtney then had a chance to win the game for the Seawolves when Bunal threw a wild pitch.

But, he was caught at home, sending the game into extra innings.

Freshman Ryley MacEachern shone in extra innings, throwing five shutout innings of relief. With three strikeouts and a mere three hits, he allowed Binghamton a double in the 10th, but struck out the next three batters to end the threat.

The Seawolves won it in the bottom of the 10th, when Krause opened the inning with a double, and then moved to third after a single from Courtney.

Bunal then intentionally walked junior Cole Peragine to load the bases with no outs.

He struck out freshman Casey Baker and got Handley to ground to third, forcing Krause out at home for the second out.

However, Bunal threw another wild pitch past Caputo, and this time Courtney scored the walk-off run to give Stony Brook the victory.

Stony Brook had eight hits in the first game and 11 hits in the second, while drawing seven walks overall.

Senior Brandon McNitt recieved the start in the second game of the series. He gave up four runs on eight hits over five innings.

Sunday was the Seawolves’ day to shine.

They had 18 hits on the day, with eight of the nine starters getting at least one hit.
Binghamton jumped on the board early, with leadoff batter Zach Blanden scoring the first run of the game right away.

But, after a 1-2-3 first, Stony Brook responded in the second.

They put up four runs after Courtney opened the inning with a home run over the right field fence.
“I think the catalyst of our offense today was Kevin Courtney’s big home run to get our first run on the board,” Senk said. “When that happened, the guys just got a lot of momentum going.”

The Seawolves continued in this fashion, scoring two runs in the fifth, four runs in the sixth and two more runs in the seventh for a total of 12 runs.

Binghamton added another run in the fourth, but sophomore starter Tyler Honahan held them in check.

He gave up only two runs on five hits over six innings. He struck out five and walked three. Honahan is now 5-1 with a 3.32 ERA.

In addition to Courtney’s home run, the Seawolves had nine singles, six doubles and another home run—by Caputo in the sixth—on the day.

Senk was very impressed with his team’s performance.

“Hitting becomes contagious and that clearly was what happened today,” he said. “We were relentless.”

After a game against Rhode Island at Joe Nathan Field on Wednesday.

The team takes to the road for a weekend at UMass Lowell.

With nearly half the season done, the Seawolves are on a roll.

“The biggest thing we talked about a lot is remaining consistent when we come to the ballpark,” Senk said.

“There’s no going back, this is what we’re about, and if this is what we’re about, then we need to do this every day.”

First pitch on Wednesday is at 3:30 p.m.