Stony Brook, N.Y. – Junior Nick Tropeano (West Islip, N.Y.) struck out 12 in 8.0 innings and the No. 1 Stony Brook University baseball team blew open a close game with a combined 10 runs in the sixth and seventh on their way to 14-2 victory over No. 4 Albany in the opening round of the 2011 America East Baseball Championships on Wednesday at Joe Nathan Field. SBU will take on No. 2 Maine in a winner’s bracket game on Thursday at 3 p.m.
Tropeano (12-1) allowed just one run on six hits as he set an America East record for wins in a season. He now has 119 strikeouts on the season, breaking the previous America East record of 111 set by Tom Koehler ’08 in 2008.
Stony Brook (42-10) has won 12 straight and 23 of its last 24. Sophomore Travis Jankowski (Lancaster, Pa.) had a career-high four hits to go along with three RBI to lead an SBU offense that totaled 17 hits.
The Seawolves jumped to a 1-0 lead in the second on a sacrifice fly from junior Sal Intagliata (Franklin Square, N.Y.) but the Great Danes tied the game in the sixth on an RBI single from Mike Tirri.
But SBU took control of the game in the bottom of the sixth as sophomore Maxx Tissenbaum (Toronto, Ontario) doubled with one out before senior Stephen Marino (Lake Grove, N.Y.) reached on hit by the pitch. Sophomore Tanner Nivins (Kitchener, Ontario) followed with a two-run triple to dead center field to give SBU the lead for good.
Nivins scored on an infield single from Jankowski and the Seawolves blew the game open in the seventh as they sent 11 men to the plate and scored seven runs. Jankowski, Intagliata, junior Pat Cantwell (West Islip, N.Y.) and senior Chad Marshall (Paris, Ontario) each had run-scoring hits in the inning.
Dave Kubiak (6-7) was tagged with loss for Albany as he allowed 11 runs, just four earned, on 12 hits in 6.2 innings. Kyle Crean led the Great Dane offense with two hits.
