Stony Brook Baseball entered Tuesday’s game against NYIT with 27 home runs this season from eight players. Last season, the team hit a mere 14 total long balls. The power surge seemed to be contagious, as two more Seawolves joined the home run parade to help the team take down the Bears, 11-8, at Angelo Lorenzo Memorial Baseball Field.
Junior third baseman Bobby Honeyman hit his first home run of the season over the right field wall in the second inning, giving his team a 2-1 lead. He finished the game with two hits and three RBI. Freshman right fielder Chris Hamilton joined the club in the seventh, hitting his first home run of the season to give his team an 11-5 lead.
Two innings earlier, senior shortstop Jeremy Giles ripped a bases-clearing triple into the left-centerfield gap. Just moments after, junior left fielder Andruw Gazzola hit an RBI double. Senior catcher David Real capped the inning with an RBI single; he finished with two RBI in the game, and Stony Brook led 8-4 after five innings.
Freshman starting pitcher Sam Turcotte got the nod on the mound and allowed three runs while striking out two batters in four innings before being pulled. Despite a rough outing, Stony Brook’s offense went to bat for the freshman.
However, the Bears did stage a rally late in the game.
Junior second baseman Joey Fusco, freshman catcher Brendan Dowd and freshman shortstop Ben McNeill each had RBI doubles in the eighth inning. The big inning cut the Seawolves lead down to 11-8.
But Stony Brook’s lead proved insurmountable, as junior relief pitcher Teddy Rodliff shut the door on NYIT. The junior relinquished one hit and one walk in the bottom of the ninth, but pitched his way to get the final three outs, garnering his first save of the season.
Senior outfielder Toby Handley notched two more walks to increase his walk total to 41. The single-season program record is held by Cole Peragine, who had 49 back in 2015. Handley also scored three runs in the game and is now tied for the conference lead in runs scored with 35.
Stony Brook improves its overall record to 21-21 with the win. After losing five games in a row at the end of April, the Seawolves have now won four consecutive games.
The team will travel to Albany this weekend to play the Great Danes. Saturday’s doubleheader begins at noon.
