Pitching led the way in the series as Stony Brook beat UMass Lowell 5-0 on Friday as part of a two games to one series win.
In his second consecutive scoreless start, freshman pitcher Bret Clarke held the River Hawks to no hits through the first four innings, but he pitched himself into a jam in the fifth inning. He started to lose the strike zone, allowing two men to get on base with one out, as head coach Matt Senk went to the bullpen.
Sophomore pitcher Teddy Rodliff took over for Clarke, ending the fifth inning threat and tasked with finishing the game out. In pitching the final three innings of the game, Rodliff completed the team’s one-hit shutout over the River Hawks, earning his fourth save of the season for his performance.
“We were nine outs away from winning the game,” Senk said. “When you have someone [in the bullpen] as effective as Teddy, especially against left handers, it definitely seems like the right thing to do.”
The Seawolves offense began and ended with junior shortstop Jeremy Giles, who drove in three runs in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader. Giles drove in the team’s first run on a line drive that deflected off UMass Lowell’s pitcher, allowing his teammate to score. In the eighth inning, Giles hit a two-run double down the left field line to bring the game to its final score of 5-0. This was all done while hitting in the final spot in the lineup.
“I like it. I get to see through the whole lineup and how their pitcher is working on our lineup,” Giles said. “I just do my job any time I can.”
However, Giles and the rest of the Stony Brook offense struggled to capitalize in the first game, losing 2-1 all despite another sharp start from senior pitcher Chad Lee.
Lee tossed 6.1 innings, allowing no earned runs while striking out five, and extending his scoreless inning streak to 31 innings. Unfortunately for him, his team made an error in the fourth inning that allowed a River Hawk player to reach base and eventually score. Lee improved his earned run average to a now-conference leading 1.00 among qualified pitchers.
But Stony Brook’s lineup could not get the big hit when they needed it in the first game, aside from junior outfielder Casey Baker’s one-run single in the fourth inning.
Sophomore pitcher Andrew Ryan started on the mound for UMass Lowell and held Stony Brook to one run in 6.1 innings, striking out seven en route to delivering Stony Brook’s first home loss of the season.
Senior pitcher Tyler Honahan continued the team’s trend of good pitching performances earlier in the series into his start allowing just two runs in 5.2 innings while striking out eight batters in his team’s 5-3 victory. Honahan earned his third win of the season improving his record to 3-4 on the year.
Senk and other coaches had a meeting earlier in the week to talk about Honahan’s struggles to this point in the season. Senk thought that he was very receptive.
“I felt really good today,” Honahan said. “I felt like I’m getting back to my winning ways and I can bring this into the next start.”
Junior catcher David Real got the ball rolling for the Seawolves offense. Real collected two hits, finishing with six total hits in the series to lead the team’s offensive charge against the River Hawks.
Stony Brook will go to Iona on Tuesday. In the teams’ two previous contests earlier this season, the Seawolves outscored the Gaels, 26-6.
