Lowell, Mass. - The Stony Brook baseball team will have its backs against the wall in the America East Championship after the No. 4 seed Seawolves dropped the tournament opener to No. 1 seed Maine, 7-0, Wednesday afternoon at LeLacheur Park.
The Seawolves (22-35) will now play an elimination game on Thursday at 4 p.m. against the loser of tonight's Albany-Binghamton game.
Turning Point
The first inning proved to be Stony Brook's downfall. With one out and a man on second, Maine's Michael Fransoso hit a flare to short-center that Seawolves center fielder Josh Mason (Woodland Hills, Calif.) just missed catching, which set up runners on second and third. Alex Calbick and Eric White then followed with back-to-back RBI singles to left, making it 2-0. After a groundout, Scott Heath then grounded the ball up the middle that sophomore Cole Peragine (Belle Ewart, Ontario) knocked down, but the ball dribbled into the outfield, allowing two runs to come home and give the Black Bears a 4-0 advantage.
Maine tacked on three runs in the fifth inning on an Eric White three-run home run while Stony Brook's offense struggled against America East Pitcher of the Year Tommy Lawrence, who gave up a one-out single to Peragine in the first inning and then didn't allow another base hit until freshman Brett Tenuto's (Audubon, N.J.) singled in the eighth inning.
Inside the Numbers
- Stony Brook was out-hit 14-2. The lone Seawolves to single were Peragine and Tenuto.
- Junior Frankie Vanderka (Levittown, N.Y.) started and allowed seven runs on 10 hits over 4-1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out one.
- Freshman Tyler Honahan (Parker, Colo.) was strong in relief, scattering three hits over 1-2/3 innings.
- Junior Josh Barry (Seaford, N.Y.) finished the game with two scoreless innings.
- Freshman Jack Parenty (Wantagh, N.Y.) went 0-for-4 to see his 10-game hitting streak come to an end.
News & Notes
- Stony Brook lost the first game of the America East Championship for the first time since 2009 and just the fourth time in 11 years at the tournament.
- It was the first time since 2003 and just the second time ever that Stony Brook was shut out in an America East Championship game.
Up Next
The Seawolves will now play an elimination game on Thursday at 4 p.m. against the loser of tonight's Albany-Binghamton game.
