The Stony Brook Baseball team failed to turn its woes around on Wednesday, as the Seawolves faltered against the Fairfield Stags, 14-9, extending their losing streak to five games.
After falling behind by three, the Seawolves put together a five-run rally at the top of the fifth inning. After a couple of hits, a wild pitch to score one run and an error, junior right fielder Casey Baker stepped up with an opportunity and took advantage. Baker ripped the ball to center field to score senior second baseman Jack Parenty and freshman designated hitter Dylan Resk. Stony Brook added two more runs in the sixth inning thanks to runs batted in by Resk and sophomore left fielder Andruw Gazzola. Stony Brook would boast a 9-5 lead going into the bottom of the inning.
But the sixth inning would be the last time the Seawolves saw a lead. After striking out two in the bottom of the sixth inning, sophomore pitcher Cole Creighton was unable to get the elusive third out and gave up four runs before getting pulled for freshman Tim Kranz. The righty could not stop the bleeding as he was unable to record an out against the four batters he faced. Kranz gave up three runs himself. Freshman pitcher Joe Baran would come in to record the final out for the Seawolves, but the damage had been done. The Stags put together a seven-run rally to take a 12-9 lead.
Baran surrendered a run in both the seventh and eighth innings before ending his day. Stony Brook was unable to put together another rally as the Seawolves failed to record a hit in the last three innings.
Baker, who leads the team with 25 runs batted in, drove in three runs on the afternoon. Infielder first baseman Johnny Caputo hit his team-leading fourth home run of the year and drove in two runs. Parenty drove in one run. The two seniors both have 24 runs batted in this season, tied for second on the team.
Stony Brook’s starter, sophomore Kevin Kernan, pitched two clean innings before being unable to complete his third inning of work. Kernan gave up two runs before being relieved by sophomore Nicholas DiEva, who gave up three runs in 0.2 innings.
Freshman right-handed pitcher Jake Binder earned his first win of the season for Fairfield. Stony Brook’s Kranz received his first loss of the season as his ERA spiked up to 17.61.
Stony Brook’s record fell to 17-19, as the team will try to break its five-game losing streak when it comes home for a conference series with UMBC, beginning Saturday. The Seawolves hold a 1-1 record versus the Retrievers this season.