Having lost five consecutive ballgames, the last thing Stony Brook needed was a loss in the home opener against a rival Long Island Div-I team.
Photo Credit: Vinny Messana
Despite having trouble with NYIT‘s starter Elias Martinez through four innings, they broke through in the fifth in a big way, thanks to three hits–the big knock coming off the bat of Toby Handley on a two-run single to open up a 4-1 lead.
Freshman Bret Clarke, making his first college start, was terrific. He shook off the early game jitters, and displayed an impressive arsenal of pitches to go along with a deceptive low 3/4 delivery. He went five innings, allowed one run on two hits with five strikeouts.
The Sea Wolves’ bullpen did a tremendous job of limiting any hopes the Bears had at a comeback.
Teddy Rotliff and Aaron Pinto each threw two hitless innings, with Pinto striking out a pair.
The Sea Wolves opened up the scoring in the first inning. Red-hot Jeremy Giles smacked a long double down the left field line. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Jack Parenty‘s RBI ground out.
The Bears responded in the third inning. Frank Sanacore drew a one-out walk. He advanced to second on a ground out to first. He moved to third on a wild pitch. Thomas Joannou smacked a sinking liner to right field that eluded the glove of a diving Casey Baker. Joannou was off to the races and ended up with a stand up RBI triple to tie the game.
That was NYIT’s best opportunity to take the lead, but reigning Long Island HR leader Louis Mele was struck out on a nasty slider by Clarke.
Martinez ran into trouble in the fifth inning. Catcher David Real led the inning off with a single. He advanced to second when Johnny Caputo was hit by a pitch. Andruw Gazzola walked to load the bases and ninth-place hitter Joe Baran drew a walk to bring in the go-ahead run. Handley smacked the two-run single which ultimately put the game out of reach.
Gazzola had a nice game–going 2-for-2 with two walks and a run scored. Joannou had two hits for the Bears.
The Sea Wolves improve to 2-5 while the Bears drop to 2-2. Stony Brook will head to North Carolina for a three-game tournament. The Bears will host Albany in a four-game series beginning Friday.
