The Stony Brook baseball team bashed 32 hits, including 11 extra-base hits, and threw 12 shutout innings in a doubleheader sweep of UMBC Saturday at President's Field in Old Westbury, N.Y. The Seawolves won the first game 12-0 and then won the second game 14-0 in a five-inning contest that was shortened by rain.
Stony Brook improves to 21-9 overall and 5-1 in America East. The Seawolves have won 19 of their last 24 games. The Retrievers slip to 4-22 and 0-5 in the conference. The 30 runs Stony Brook scored in the doubleheader is the most for the team since putting up 43 at UMBC on May 8, 2010. Stony Brook has now outscored the Retrievers 100-9 over their last eight meetings (8-0). The Seawolves will go for the sweep Sunday afternoon.
Sophomore William Carmona (Hempstead, N.Y.) led the Seawolves offense in the two games with six hits in eight at-bats, including three doubles and a booming home run in the first inning of the second game. He finished with 4 RBI. Freshman Kevin Courtney (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) was 5-for-5 in the doubleheader with a double, triple and 4 RBI. Freshman Josh Mason (Woodland Hills, Calif.) slammed a pair of home runs, one in each game, including a three-run shot in the second game. Sophomore Tanner Nivins (Kitchener, Ontario) was 4-for-6 with a two-run home run.
On the mound, junior Nick Tropeano (West Islip, N.Y.) threw a complete game shutout in the first game, allowing no walks and only five hits while striking out 11. In the second game, junior Tyler Johnson (Chatsworth, Calif.) also threw a complete game, giving up just one hit and no walks in five innings while fanning four batters. For Tropeano, it was his third complete game and second shutout of the season. It was the first complete game shutout of Johnson's season.
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In the first game, the Seawolves jumped out to a 1-0 lead on senior Steve Marino's (Lake Grove, N.Y.) sacrifice fly. With the score 2-0 in the fourth inning, SBU exploded for four runs as Mason hit a two-run homer, junior Pat Cantwell (West Islip, N.Y.) singled in Courtney and then Carmona singled home Cantwell.
Stony Brook then put the game away with a six-run fifth inning that started with Marino reaching base on an error. Nivins followed with a home run down the left field line. With runners on first and third, senior Chad Marshall (Paris, Ontario) hit an RBI single that brought home Mason. Carmona then hit a two-run double to left center, and sophomore Maxx Tissenbaum (Toronto, Ontario) capped the inning with an RBI single.
Meanwhile, Tropeano took care of the UMBC bats, scattering five singles and allowing only one runner to reach second base. In the sixth inning, he struck out three batters, including Ryan McCabe, who reached base on a wild pitch. Tropeano nearly struck out a fourth batter, but Max Himmelstein grounded out to third on a 2-2 pitch.
Tropeano lowered his ERA to 1.01 while improving his record to 7-1. He now has 68 strikeouts and just nine walks in 53-2/3 innings.
In the second game, the Seawolves kept the offense going as Carmona homered in the first, and Courtney knocked in two runs with a single to left in the second inning. Stony Brook then had a five-run third inning headlined by Mason's three-run homer.
The Seawolves finished UMBC off with a six-run fourth inning. Marino smacked a two-run homer, starting a string of seven straight players reaching base.
On the hill, Johnson pitched five innings and allowed only a second-inning single to Himmelstein. After he retired UMBC in order in the fifth, the rain came, and the game was called in Stony Brook's favor.
Stony Brook will go for the sweep Sunday afternoon at President's Field in Old Westbury, N.Y., at 1 p.m.
