June 3, 2004

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The Story Line At the NCAA Regional
The 2004 America East champion Stony Brook Seawolves will look for its first-ever NCAA tournament win in its first NCAA appearance when it faces the nationally-ranked East Carolina Pirates (48-11) at Grainger Stadium in Kinston, N.C. Stony Brook earned the America East's automatic bid to the double-elimination regional when it swept through the conference tournament last weekend with three straight wins and will face one of the 16 No. 1 seeds in the 64-team field.

This marks the first time in Stony Brook's five-year Division I history that the Seawolves will compete in the NCAA tournament. The Seawolves overcame a 1-5 start in conference play, roaring to the finish with a 10-5 mark and clinching the final spot in the conference tournament as a No. 4 seed.

The Seawolves, who made their third straight appearance in the America East playoffs, showed their experience in a convincing 15-6 win over No. 1 seed Northeastern in the opening game of the conference playoffs. In the winner's bracket for the second consecutive year, SB dispatched Maine with a 6-3 decision to earn the right to play for the conference title for the second time in as many years. The Seawolves battled Maine once again and came away with a 3-1 win behind a complete-game four-hitter from Matt Restivo to capture their first America East title.

Guiding the Seawolves into battle is head coach Matt Senk, who has posted a 357-205-3 mark in his 14 seasons at the helm. The winningest coach in Stony Brook history is a three-time Stony Brook coach of the year selection and has led his team to five 30-plus win seasons.

On the diamond, leadoff hitter and team MVP Andrew Larsen is the catalyst for the Seawolves attack. Larsen began the year hitting .142 (6-for-42) but has batted .360 since to post a .313 mark for the year. He leads the team in hits (61), doubles (15), runs (44) and stolen bases (14) while three-time second team all-conference shortstop Matt Devins leads the team with a .376 batting average. Nick Theoharis has emerged into the Seawolves cleanup hitter this season, ranking first among all Seawolves with 11 home runs and 47 RBI.

On the mound, the Seawolves have relied mostly on the duo of Kevin Fitzgerald and Jon Lewis. Fitz went 7-2 with a 3.35. ERA while Lewis threw six straight complete games to finish the season and post a 7-6 record with a 2.92 ERA. Nick Abel is the top man out of the bullpen with a 2.28 ERA and 3 saves.

Third Time's a Charm
Stony Brook took home the America East Championship in its third appearance in the conference tournament since joining the league three seasons ago.

The Seawolves won 2-of-3 games against Binghamton in their final regular season series to qualify as the No. 4 seed in the tournament. Once into the field of four, Stony Brook rose to the top, taking out top-seed Northeastern and No. 2 Maine twice to bring home its first conference crown.

After winning one game in their inaugural appearance, the Seawolves made a run at the title last season, coming through the loser's bracket but falling to Northeastern in the tournament final.

America East Tourney Honors
Stony Brook players dominated the all-championship team at the America East tournament, as seven of the 11 spots on the squad were awarded to Seawolves.

Outfielder Isidro Fortuna was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player after hitting .538 (7-for-13) with a double, two RBI and four runs scored. Fortuna was joined by pitcher Matt Restivo, outfielder Andrew Larsen, and the entire SB infield as first baseman Dave Mischo, second baseman Chris Sipp, shortstop Matt Devins and third baseman Nick Theoharis were named to the all-championship squad.

Never Say Die
The Seawolves dug out of a deep hole after starting the conference season 1-5, winning 10 of their last 15 conference games to earn the fourth and final playoff spot in the America East's double-elimination championship.

After a three-game sweep at the hands of league-leading Albany, the Seawolves went 17-7 overall down the stretch. Going into the final series of the year versus Binghamton, the Seawolves held a one-half game advantage over the Bearcats. Starting pitchers Kevin Fitzgerald and Jon Lewis came through with back-to-back shutouts to take the first two games of the series and secure the final spot in the playoffs.

Breaking Through
Stony Brook entered the America East Championship as the No. 4 seed with the tough task of facing No. 1 Northeastern and conference pitcher of the year Jordan Thomson, who posted an 8-2 record and 1.31 ERA during the regular season.

In addtion, Thomson owned Stony Brook in seven career appearances, posting a 7-0 career record with a 2.43 ERA, including a 1-0, two-hit shutout earlier this season.

Stony Brook was unfazed, however, jumping all over Thomson with four straight hits, including two home runs, to open the game. Andrew Larsen led off the contest with a solo home run and Nick Theoharis added a two-run shot three batters later to put the Seawolves up 4-0.

The hits kept coming as the Seawolves sent Thomson to the showers after scoring eight runs on nine hits, including three home runs, in the first two-plus innings. Larsen's blast was the first home run Thomson gave up in 82.2 innings of work this season.

The 350 Win Club
With the Seawolves double header sweep of Maine on May 8, head coach Matt Senk earned his 350th and 351st career victories at Stony Brook. He is by far the all-time winningest coach in SB baseball history, compiling a 357-205-3 record (.631 winning percentage) in 13-plus seasons in a Seawolves uniform.

As the record book currently stands, next season his .614 (154-97) winning percentage in five years at the Division I level would enter him into the top-50 winningest active coaches by percentage in the country.

30 Something
A win at the NCAA regionals would give Stony Brook 30 for the season and give head coach Matt Senk his sixth 30-win season in his 14-year tenure at Stony Brook.

Stony Brook vs. the NCAA Field
Stony Brook is 10-5 all-time against this year's NCAA field, including a 1-3 mark this season. The Seawolves faced Princeton in home-and-home double header's on back-to-back days in March, falling 2-0 and 4-3 at Princeton before earning a split at Stony Brook with a 2-1 victory in the opener and a 4-1 loss in the finale.

SB has played Florida Atlantic (0-1), Princeton (1-3), Central Connecticut (4-0), Army (2-0), George Mason (2-0), Miami (0-1) and St. John's (0-1) since moving to the Division I level.

Stony Brook vs. the Kinston Regional
Stony Brook has never faced East Carolina, Tennessee or UNC Wilmington. The Seawolves have gone 15-8 all-time against the CAA and have never faced an SEC or C-USA opponent.

America East in the NCAA Tournament
Since the America East began play in the NCAA Baseball Tournament in 1990, the conference has gone 6-26 in Regional site play. The last conference representative to win a game in the regionals was since-departed Delaware, which defeated Ohio State 5-3 in 10 innings in 2001.

Last season, Northeastern fell 11-8 to LSU and 12-6 to UNC-Wilmington at the Louisiana State Regional.

The NCAA Touch
Designated hitter Stephen Didsbury is heading to the NCAA tournament for the second time. As a freshman at Central Connecticut, the Blue Devils qualified for the NCAA tournament and faced Texas in the opening round. Didsbury sat out last year after transferring from CCSU and will now make his second appearance in the NCAA tournament.

Fresh Faces in New Places
Stony Brook is one of eight teams making their first NCAA tournament appearance. The Seawolves are joined by Birmingham-Southern, College of Charleston, Jacksonville State, St. Bonaventure, Texas Southern, UC Irvine and Youngstown State.

New York, New York
Stony Brook is one of five teams from the state of New York in this year's 64-team field, tying South Carolina for the fourth most teams from one state. Texas leads the way with seven representatives, followed by California and Florida with six schools apiece.

Joining the Seawolves from the Empire State are Army, Le Moyne, St. Bonaventure and St. John's.

Carolina Here We Come
Stony Brook is 4-0 this season versus teams from the state of North Carolina. The Seawolves opened their season with a 10-3 win over Appalachian State and pulled off a three-game sweep at High Point from March 3-5, scoring a season-high 19 runs in the second game of the series.

America East Regular Season Awards
At the annual America East Baseball Championship Banquet, Stony Brook shortstop Matt Devins was named second-team all-conference and was one of two players to be honored. Freshman second baseman Chris Sipp was named to the all-rookie team.

Let's Get it Started
Leadoff hitter Andrew Larsen is the straw that stirs the Stony Brook drink. His leadoff home run off America East Pitcher of the Year Jordan Thomson catapulted the Seawolves to a 15-6 drubbing of top-seeded Northeastern and set the tone for the team during the entire conference tournament.

Larsen led off two games with home runs this season, both coming against Northeastern, and hit .429 as the leadoff hitter in an inning this year.

If the Shoe Fitz....
Kevin Fitzgerald has emerged this season to be a dominant force on the mound for the Seawolves. The sophomore stands at 7-2 while posting a 3.35 ERA, tied for the team lead in wins while ranking third in ERA. His 80 strikeouts and 80.2 innings pitched rank second on the team.

Fitzgerald has saved his best starts for last, overpowering Binghamton on May 21 with a four-hit complete game shutout with a conference playoff berth on the line, striking out eight without allowing a base on balls in the 10-0 victory. He opened the America East Championship series with a victory over top-seed Northeastern, striking out a career-high 10 batters in six innings of work to advance to the winner's bracket.

Iron Horse
Jon Lewis has been simply dominant the second half of the season. The junior hurler has thrown six consecutive complete games to finish the season, including a 2-0 shutout of Binghamton to clinch the fourth and final spot in the America East Championship and a 6-3 victory over Maine to advance to the championship round. In his last five starts, Lewis and has gone 5-0 with a 1.46 ERA while striking out 39 batters and allowing just three walks. During that span, he strung together 28.0 consecutive innings without surrendering a base on balls.

Lewis is the all-time Stony Brook leader with 247.0 innings pitched and currently stands second all-time at SB with 236 K's and 21 career victories.

Three for Three
After missing a month of the season with a hand injury from a head first slide into home plate, junior Matt Devins returned to earn second team all-conference honors at shortstop for the third consecutive season. Devins sparked the SB offense after his return, posting team highs with a .376 batting average and a .444 on-base percentage.

Slick Nick
Third baseman Nick Theoharis has wielded a big stick for the Seawolves the last two weeks. In the last nine games of the season, the junior cleanup hitter batted .333 with five home runs, two doubles, six runs and 16 RBI. Theoharis has driven in at least one run in eight of those nine games, including two five-RBI outings.

Theoharis had a big America East Championship, hitting two home runs and driving in a team-high seven runs while hitting .308. He also made several run-saving plays at third base for the Seawolves, earning all-championship team honors for his efforts.

Clutch Performer
Sophomore Matt Restivo had a career-defining performance in the Seawolves America East Championship clinching victory over Maine. The southpaw struck out a career-high 10 batters in his first complete game of the season and first nine-inning complete game of his career. He no-hit the Black Bears for the first five and two-thirds innings and allowed just four hits in the 3-1 victory.

Restivo earned sweet redemption from the 2003 conference championship when he came out of the bullpen as a freshman, allowing three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to suffer a 5-4 loss to Northeastern and drop the Seawolves to the tournament's loser's bracket.

Freshman Standout
Freshman second baseman Chris Sipp stepped into the starting lineup this season and was recognized as an America East All-Rookie Team selection.

The smooth-fielding newcomer earned America East Rookie of the Week for the week of April 19-25, after hitting .571 (8-for-14) in five games, including two crucial wins over conference foe Northeastern.

Grand Larseny
After a 6-for-42 start (.143 BA), Andrew Larsen has been on fire at the plate for the Seawolves. Since then, the center fielder has hit .360 (55-for-153), including a .355 average during conference play.

Once he gets on, Larsen causes major problems for the opposing battery with his speed on the basepaths, leading the team with 14 steals.

In addition to his stolen base totals, Larsen ranks first on the team in hits (61), doubles (15), runs scored (44) and total bases (101), while ranking second in batting average (.313) and home runs (10).