With fall sports finished and basketball season underway, baseball season is right around the corner, and the 2017 Stony Brook Baseball schedule was released on Tuesday.
Stony Brook Baseball comes into the season with high expectations as it has been a dominant force since its College World Series run in 2012.
The Seawolves won back-to-back America East regular season championships in the 2014 and 2015 seasons, have been to a conference tournament title and made an NCAA Regional appearance in 2015, before taking a slight step back last season.
The team will partake in 19 non-conference games to start off the season before the start of their 24-game slate against America East opponents.
If the Seawolves are looking for revenge on the reigning America East champion Bearcats, who eliminated the team last season, they will have to be patient as the teams will not face each other until the end of the season. The Seawolves will host Binghamton in a two-game stretch on May 13 and 14 at Joe Nathan Field.
Perhaps the most difficult task of the season will come to Stony Brook in mid-March as they take a trip to the west coast for a four-game stretch in California. Stony Brook will play a three-game series against UC Santa Barbara from March 17-19 in Santa Barbara, California.
The UCSB Gauchos played in the 2016 College World Series after they defeated Louisville in the Super Regional tournament. Before playing UCSB, Stony Brook will play Pepperdine on March 14 in Malibu, California. Pepperdine finished its season with a 29-24 overall record, losing to Gonzaga in the WCC Tournament.
The Seawolves will kick off the season with nine straight road games, as is typical for teams in winter climates. Stony Brook struggled on the road last season as the team posted a 9-22 away record.
Stony Brook will play three straight games in Louisiana as it takes on McNeese State on Feb. 17, Missouri State on Feb. 18 and Rhode Island on Feb. 19.
The Seawolves will travel to South Carolina for the first three-game series of the season to take on Presbyterian from Feb. 24-26.
From March 3-5, Stony Brook will take on Central Florida in Orlando.
Play on Long Island will begin with a five game home-stand for Stony Brook with the first of two matchups against the NYIT Bears on March 7 and the Yale Bulldogs on March 8. Stony Brook will also play a three-game series against LIU Brooklyn from March 10-12. Stony Brook will play NYIT once again on May 2, on the road.
Stony Brook will end the nonconference portion of its schedule when it takes on Manhattan at home on March 21.
Stony Brook will begin America East play against Hartford at Joe Nathan Field on March 25 and 26. Hartford ended the season with an overall record of 37-18 but Stony Brook ended Hartford’s 2016 season in the America East Tournament by a score of 3-2.
The Seawolves will play the conference rival Hawks two more times on the road on April 22 and 23.
After a small taste of America East play, Stony Brook will play non-conference opponent Marist on March 28 at Joe Nathan Field. They will face Marist for a second time on April 11 in Poughkeepsie, New York.
Stony Brook will kick off April with a couple of conference games against Albany on April 1 and 2 at Joe Nathan Field. Stony Brook lost a three-games series against Albany last season but the Seawolves defeated the Great Danes in the America East Tournament by a lopsided score of 10-4. The two teams will meet again later in the season to battle in Albany, this time to play a pair of games on May 6 and 7.
After wrapping up the games against Albany, Stony Brook will face Iona on April 4. The Seawolves will then travel to Connecticut to begin a three game series against Sacred Heart from April 7-9, with the first game played in Connecticut and the next two games in Stony Brook.
Stony Brook will look to take the season series against UMass Lowell for the third year in a row as the Seawolves will play the River Hawks from April 14 and 15 in LeLacheur Park.
Stony Brook will play a Fairfield team that had a historic 2016 season, making its first-ever NCAA regional appearance. The Seawolves will play the Stags at home on April 26.
Stony Brook will finish out the month of April with a conference matchup against Maine at home on April 29 and 30. Stony Brook beat Maine in five out of six games played last season.
The regular season will come to an end on the road against the UMBC Retrievers from May 19-20, in Baltimore, Maryland.
A strong bullpen for Stony Brook will be a major key for the Seawolves this season, as the team retained six pitchers that appeared in at least 10 games last season. America East Rookie of the Year pitcher Bret Clark returns to the team this year after a strong showing in 2016.
One new addition, freshman infielder Michael Wilson, will be a player to keep an eye on, as he was picked in the 15th round of the MLB draft by the Boston Red Sox.
