The Stony Brook baseball team traveled to Binghamton over the weekend for a critical conference series. The series was a great opportunity to rise in the standings and Stony Brook capitalized, taking two of three from the Bearcats.
The first game of the series on Saturday was a pitcher’s duel between Stony Brook sophomore starting pitcher Greg Marino and Binghamton junior starting pitcher Nick Gallagher. Neither starter gave up a run through the first four innings, and Marino allowed just one baserunner over that stretch.
The Seawolves managed to break the scoreless tie in the fifth inning on a Bearcats error. Gallagher hit junior catcher Sean Buckhout with one out, and senior catcher Jason Agresti’s throwing error put Stony Brook junior infielder Brandon Janofsky on first base and moved Buckhout to third. Senior outfielder Andruw Gazzola brought Buckhout home two batters later on a bunt single, giving the Seawolves a 1-0 lead.
Stony Brook doubled its lead in the seventh inning with a two-out rally. Gallagher gave up a single to sophomore infielder Nick Grande and advanced him to second on a balk. Gazzola came through with a single to center field, scoring Grande and putting Stony Brook up 2-0.
The Seawolves put the game out of reach in the ninth inning. Grande hit a one-out triple to right field and came home on a Gazzola single. Senior infielder Bobby Honeyman singled to advance Gazzola to second, and junior outfielder Dylan Resk scored both runners on a misplayed ball to make it 5-0.
Marino dominated throughout the game, allowing just two hits over seven innings and coasting to his third win of the season. Senior closer Aaron Pinto relieved Marino in the eighth inning and completed his 10th save of the year, extending his program single-season record.
The second game on Saturday featured another pitching gem from a Stony Brook starter. Sophomore starting pitcher Brian Herrmann tossed six innings of one-run baseball, inducing nine fly outs and six grounders. The lone Binghamton run came in the sixth inning when Agresti lined a one-out double to right field. Senior infielder Luke Tevlin singled to shortstop, scoring Agresti and cutting Stony Brook’s lead to 2-1.
The Seawolves obtained their lead early, jumping on senior starting pitcher Nick Wegmann in the first inning. Gazzola drove a ball to center field for a one-out triple and scored two batters later on a single from junior outfielder Cristian Montes. The Seawolves added another run in the sixth off Wegmann when freshman catcher John Tuccillo laced a one-out double to left center. Tuccillo advanced to third on a groundout and scored on sophomore outfielder Chris Hamilton’s single.
Grande led off the seventh inning with a 1-1 blast to left field for a solo shot, giving Stony Brook a 3-1 lead that they would not surrender.
Stony Brook entered the series finale on Sunday hoping for a sweep, but things quickly got out of hand.
The Seawolves held a 4-3 lead going into the fifth inning, but the Bearcats scored five runs to blow the game open.
Junior starting pitcher Bret Clarke was relieved by senior pitcher Kevin Kernan, but the damage wasn’t done. Kernan allowed the next two batters to reach base and steal a bag, setting Binghamton up with runners on second and third with no outs. Freshman infielder Jake Evans singled two batters later to score one run and senior outfielder CJ Krowiak hit a sacrifice fly, bringing home the last run of the inning and giving Binghamton an 8-4 lead.
The Seawolves offense did not struggle in the first four innings. Gazzola worked a one-out walk in the first inning and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Honeyman singled him home in the next at-bat to put the Seawolves up 1-0. Tuccillo led off the second inning with a one-out walk and came home on a triple from Hamilton. Senior infielder Brandon Alamo brought home Hamilton in the next at-bat, and Hamilton crushed a home run to right field in the fourth inning to give the Seawolves their fourth run of the game.
Stony Brook had an opportunity to cut into the deficit in the seventh inning. The first three Seawolves reached base, bringing the tying run to the plate in Honeyman. Honeyman lined out a 4-6 double play, but Resk managed to score one run to make it 8-5. The rally ended there, and Stony Brook went down in order in the eighth and ninth innings.
The Seawolves improved to 23-19 with the series win and return home for their final homestand of the season starting on Wednesday, May 2 against Sacred Heart. Stony Brook played Sacred Heart back in February, winning in nail-biting fashion 7-6 on a neutral site.
