Having pitched just two days prior, Stony Brook Baseball senior pitcher Chad Lee was called upon to start the biggest game of his life: the America East Championship against a rival Binghamton team. He pitched admirably through four innings, keeping the game tied 1-1 before he was pulled from the game.
With the Seawolves’ ace gone, the Bearcats offense took over.
The Bearcats went on to eliminate the Seawolves, winning the America East Conference Championship, 6-3, at Edward A. LeLacheur Park on Saturday. For the second time in three seasons, Stony Brook was forced to watch as Binghamton stormed the field to celebrate another championship.
Lee had thrown 168 pitches in under 72 hours, allowing just one run during the span. Like other college pitchers, he typically had six days rest in between starts during the regular season.
“I know he’ll be ready to go mentally,” head coach Matt Senk said prior to naming him Saturday’s starting pitcher. “But we’ll see.”
When Stony Brook’s ace was removed from the game in the fifth inning, the Bearcats took full advantage.
After sophomore pitcher Teddy Rodliff came into the ballgame as relief, Binghamton singled and doubled early in the inning to put runners on first and third. Junior first baseman Brendan Skidmore came to the plate and lined a single up the middle to score both runners. The team went on to score two more runs before the end of the inning, the last one provided by sophomore catcher Jason Agresti, who singled in a run.
The run scoring single was just one of Agresti’s three hits, which led to him being named the America East Baseball Championship’s Most Outstanding Player. The previous day, he had hit a walk-off grand slam against Hartford, that sent the Bearcats to the America East Championships in dramatic fashion.
Down five runs in the eighth inning, the Seawolves lineup began to operate. Stony Brook scored two runs in the inning, the first of which came from senior second baseman Jack Parenty, who lined a single to left field to score a run. Junior outfielder Casey Baker followed with a double that allowed Parenty to score. But the team would be unable to manufacture runs in the ninth inning, ending the team’s 2016 season.
Parenty’s single in the inning would be the last of his collegiate career. The senior graduates with 252 hits, just three shy of the Stony Brook all-time record.
Stony Brook finished its season as the runners-up in the America East Championship with a 27-27 overall record.
