The Stony Brook baseball team returned to Joe Nathan Field for a pair of mid-week home games on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Seawolves took care of business in both, defeating Iona 5-2 and Central Connecticut 5-0, respectively. The wins improve Stony Brook’s record on the season to 19-12.
Senior starting pitcher Kevin Kernan took the mound for Tuesday’s game. Kernan had a solid outing, throwing three innings of two-hit baseball and striking out two Gaels.
Seawolves junior right fielder Brandon Alamo hit an RBI single to right field off Iona freshman starting pitcher James Gosweiler in the top of the first, giving his team a 1-0 lead. They went up 2-0 in the third inning thanks to an RBI single to left field off the bat of freshman catcher John Tuccillo, who was named America East Conference Rookie of the Week. Iona finally got on the board in the top of the fifth inning with an RBI double to left center field by junior centerfielder Fran Kinsey off sophomore pitcher Sam Turcotte.
The score remained 2-1 until Stony Brook broke it open in the bottom of the seventh inning. Tuccillo drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 3-1 Seawolves. Sacrifice flies by senior third baseman Bobby Honeyman and sophomore first baseman Chris Hamilton pushed the score to 5-1. Honeyman was named America East Conference Player of the Week on Tuesday, making it the fourth straight week that a Stony Brook player has received the honor. Iona added a run in the eighth, but its offense could do nothing else for the rest of the game, giving Stony Brook the win.
Freshman pitcher Brian Morrisey got the start on Wednesday against Central Connecticut. Morrisey set the tone for Stony Brook, throwing four innings of shutout baseball en route to his first career victory.
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the second inning, when Stony Brook’s offense found success against senior starting pitcher Brett Susi. Hamilton slapped a single to right center and then stole second base. He wound up scoring on an RBI double from junior right fielder Dylan Resk to make it 1-0 Seawolves. Later in the inning with the bases loaded, sophomore shortstop Nick Grande was hit by a pitch, plating Resk and extending the lead to 2-0.
The score remained that way until the bottom of the fifth inning, when Grande led off with a double to left field and then stole third base. Tuccillo came up to bat next and hit an RBI double, advancing the Seawolves’ lead to 3-0. They added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning on an RBI double from Hamilton and a wild pitch, giving them a 5-0 advantage. Senior pitcher Aaron Pinto came into the game for the ninth inning and closed the door, giving Stony Brook a shutout victory.
“When you have that kind of pitching and defense, it puts you in a position to win and that’s what happened today,” head coach Matt Senk said in a press release. “I’m proud of the guys’ overall effort and I’m proud of the fact that we were able to get a shutout today.”
Stony Brook will travel to Albany this weekend for a three-game conference series. The team will play one game on Friday at 3 p.m. followed by a doubleheader on Saturday starting at noon.
