April 19, 2009

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

Vestal, N.Y. - Freshman Sal Intagliata's (Franklin Square, N.Y.) ninth inning sacrifice fly drove in senior Chad Rebecca (Mt. Prospect, Ill.) with the go-ahead run as the Stony Brook University baseball team rallied for a 7-6 victory over the Binghamton Bearcats this afternoon at Varsity Field in the second game of an America East doubleheader. Jim Calderone knocked in the go-ahead run with a two-out RBI single to lead the Bearcats to an 8-7 win in the first game. Stony Brook is now 17-16 overall and 7-5 in the America East.

The teams entered the ninth inning of game two tied at six but Rebecca walked to lead off the inning and moved to second on a single from junior Jeremy Nowak (Cheektowaga, N.Y.). Sophomore Chad Marshall (Paris, Ontario) then sacrificed the runners to second and third and Intagliata followed with the sacrifice fly to right to bring Rebecca home with the go-ahead run.

Nowak, who got out of a bases-loaded one-out jam in the eighth, then pitched a perfect ninth to seal the win for the Seawolves. Senior Steven Mazzurco (Selden, N.Y.) recorded three hits in four at-bats to lead the Seawolves offense.

Binghamton grabbed the early lead in the second game, scoring two runs in the first on a Dave Ciocchi two-run single. The Bearcats added a run in the second on a Jeff Abrams home run and then scored twice more in the fourth on run-scoring hits from Kyle Klee and Corey Taylor. Binghamton pushed its lead to 6-0 in fifth on a Ken Jacobi home run to right.

The Seawolves rallied back in the seventh though, erupting for six runs to tie the game. Junior Michael Stephan (Patchogue, N.Y.) led off the inning with a single to right and then moved to third on a double from junior Robert Dyer (Selden, N.Y.). Mazzurco then reached on an infield single to shortstop that allowed Stephan to come home with the first run of the frame. Dyer also came into score on the play after a throwing error by Klee.

Senior Michael Tansey (Valley Stream, N.Y.) followed with a two-run home run to cut the Binghamton lead to 6-4. Sophomore Nick Thode (Huntington Station, N.Y.) then doubled before being replaced by freshman Pat Cantwell (West Islip, N.Y.), who came in as a pinch-runner. Cantwell moved to third on a wild pitch and then came home on an RBI groundout from senior Keith Fier (Armonk, N.Y.).

Rebecca scored the final run of the inning as he walked with one out, stole second and then moved to third on a Binghamton error. Rebecca scampered home a batter later on a wild pitch from Bearcat reliever Aaron Schuldt.

The Seawolves grabbed an early lead in the first game on a home run from Dyer to lead off the second, his third home run of the series. SBU added two more runs in the fourth, highlighted by a run-scoring single from Dyer. The Bearcats rallied to tie it in the bottom of the inning though on a two-run double from Ciochhi and an RBI single from Joe Charron.

Stony Brook regained the lead the fifth on an RBI double from senior Brian Witkowski (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) but Binghamton answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 7-4 lead. Ciocchi had the big hit of the frame for the Bearcats, a two-run home run to right.

SBU would not go away though, scoring three runs in the sixth to tie the game. Mazzurco, who drove in the first run of the inning with an RBI single, scored the tying run on an RBI groundout from Fier. But the Bearcats grabbed the lead back in the bottom of the sixth as C.J. Lukaszewski doubled with two outs and then came home two batters later on Calderone's RBI single.

Greg Lane, in his second inning of work, then retired the Seawolves in order in the seventh to secure the victory. Dyer went 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored for SBU. Ciocchi recorded two hits and drove in four runs for the Bearcats.

The Seawolves return to action on Tuesday, traveling to take on Hofstra. First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m.