The Stony Brook baseball team won a three-game series against Florida Atlantic two games to one to open its 2011 season.

The Seawolves opened up the series with a victory on Friday night by a score of 5-0 behind the stellar pitching of junior Nick Tropeano (West Islip, N.Y.). Tropeano (1-0) struck out eight in six innings and allowed only three hits and a walk against a tough Florida Atlantic offense.

The Owls came into the series averaging almost eight runs a game through their first five games and even defeated #20 Miami. Senior Stephen Marino (Lake Grove, N.Y.) went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and freshman Brandon McNitt (Chino Hills, Calif.) earned a save by pitching three shutout innings for the Seawolves.

Stony Brook scored two runs in the second and one in the fifth to go along with the dominant Tropeano pitching.

The Seawolves added two more runs in the seventh inning off of a homerun from Marino, and McNitt finished off the Owls for his first career save. The Seawolves had 12 hits in the contest and R.J. Alvarez took the loss for the Owls.

Stony Brook defeated the Florida Atlantic Owls once again Saturday by a score of 5-1. Junior Tyler Johnson (1-0) (Chatsworth, Calif.) allowed only one run, struck out four batters and allowed five hits in six innings to earn the victory.

Junior Pat Cantwell’s (West Islip, N.Y.) two-out RBI single in the seventh inning broke a 1-1 tie, and gave him three hits in four at-bats for the day. Freshman Joshua Mason (Woodland Hills, Calif.) reached second on an error in the seventh inning and scored on Cantwell’s hit. Sophomore William Carmona (Hempstead, N.Y.) gave Stony Brook insurance runs on a two-run homerun in the eighth inning. Freshman Bryan Tatelman (South Windsor, Conn.) earned his first career save by allowing just one hit in three innings of relief. Jake Meiers took the loss for the Owls, by giving up one earned run in 6 1/3 innings.

The Seawolves dropped the finale against Florida Atlantic by a score of 12-4 on Sunday afternoon. Junior Sal Intagliata (Franklin Square, N.Y.) drove in two runs for Stony Brook, junior Pat Cantwell and sophomore Maxx Tissenbaum (Toronto, Ontario) had two hits apiece.
Florida Atlantic had a five-run third inning and overcame a 4-1 deficit to salvage one game of the series. Stony Brook scored three runs in the second inning off of an Intagliata two-run single and a Cantwell single.

The Owls scored a run in the bottom half of the second, but the Seawolves answered with one of their own in the top of the third inning. Florida Atlantic’s third inning was highlighted by a three-run double from Joey Burkhalter    and Andy Mee pushed their lead to 8-4 by hitting a two-run homerun in the fourth inning.

The Owls scored four more runs in the eighth inning without a hit. Sophomore Adam Brown (Melville, N.Y.) took the loss for the Seawolves, by allowing six runs in 2 2/3 innings. Paul Davis (2-0) pitched six innings of scoreless relief for the Owls to earn a victory.

The Seawolves continue their season on Friday, traveling to #18 North Carolina for the beginning of a three-game series.