March 19, 2005

Box Score

Irvine, Calif. - The Stony Brook baseball team was downed 3-2 by UC Irvine in its first game at the Orange County Youth Sports Foundation Hardball Classic on Friday evening in Irvine, Calif. The Seawolves rallied for a pair of runs in the top of the seventh inning to pull within a run but were unable to break through, dropping to 5-6 on the year with the loss.

The game began as a pitcher's duel as starters Jon Lewis and Chris Nicoll were each able to shut down the opposition's bats for the first four innings. UC Irvine threatened in the bottom of the fourth, but Peter Milani kept the game scoreless with a run saving catch, laying out on the full run to pull in a sure double down the left field line. The Anteaters broke through an inning later, stringing together three straight extra base hits to break the scoreless tie. Chad Lundahl and Brett Dalton hit back-to-back doubles to give Irvine a 1-0 advantage before Ollie Linton added an RBI triple for a 2-0 lead. Linton came in to score on a wild pitch to give Irvine a 3-0 advantage after five innings.

The Seawolves put together a rally in the top of the sixth, loading the bases with one out, but the Irvine defense turned in a nifty double play on a Nick Theoharis grounder up the middle to keep Stony Brook off the board. The Seawolves loaded the bases again an inning later, this time with no outs, and were able to score on a Chris DiBiaso sacrifice fly and an RBI single by Chris Sipp to cut the deficit to 3-2 heading into the seventh inning stretch. That would be as close as the Seawolves would get, however, as they were unable to put anything together in the eighth and were shut down by All-America closer Blair Erickson in the ninth as he struck out the side after allowing a leadoff walk.

Lewis (2-1) pitched well in the loss, allowing eight hits and three runs while striking out five in 6.1 innings of work. Stephen Didsbury and Chris Sipp each picked up a pair of hits to lead the Seawolves at the plate.

Stony Brook will back in action tomorrow in Day 2 of hte OCYSF Hardball Classic versus Southern Cal at 12 p.m. Pacific time.