April 17, 2010

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

Stony Brook, N.Y. - Sophomores Nick Tropeano (West Islip, N.Y.) and Tyler Johnson (Chatsworth, Calif.) each hurled complete game shutouts to lead the Stony Brook University baseball team to a doubleheader sweep of the UMBC Retrievers in America East Conference action on Saturday afternoon at University Field. Tropeano allowed just four hits and struck out nine in leading the Seawolves to a 5-0 win in game one. Johnson then carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and allowed just three hits while striking out 10 in leading Stony Brook to a 6-0 victory in game two. With the two victories, Stony Brook improves to 13-16 overall and 3-2 in the America East.

The Seawolves jumped to an early lead in game one, scoring three in the second. Freshman William Carmona (Hempstead, N.Y.) singled with one out and then moved to third on a single from freshman Tanner Nivins (Kitchener, Ontario). Freshman Maxx Tissenbam (Toronto, Ontario) followed with a single through the left side to drive in Carmona and give the Seawolves the 1-0 lead.

A run-scoring single from senior Justin Echevarria (Uniondale, N.Y.) made it 2-0 and Tissenbaum then scored the final run off the inning on a fielder's choice from sophomore Pat Cantwell (West Islip, N.Y.). UMBC put runners on first and second with two outs in the fourth before Tropeano got Rich Conlon to ground out to second to end the inning.

SBU tacked on a run in fifth when junior Chad Marshall (Paris, Ontario) scored on a Andrew Germuth wild pitch. The Retrievers best scoring chance came in the sixth, putting runners on second and third with no out. But Tropeano got Max Himmelstein to pop up to second for the first out before striking out the next two batters to get out of the jam.

The Seawolves added a run in the sixth on a Cantwell RBI single and Tropeano (3-3) then pitched a scoreless seventh to secure the victory. Echevarria and Tissenbaum led SBU with two hits each.

Stony Brook once again grabbed an early lead in game two, scoring three times in the first. Senior Robert Dyer (Selden, N.Y.) had the big hit in the inning, scorching a two-run double to right-center. Senior Michael Stephan (Patchogue, N.Y.) then drove Dyer in with a single up the middle to make it 3-0.

The three runs was more than enough for Johnson, who struck out nine over the first five innings while allowing just one runner to reach base. Johnson (4-2) carried a no-hitter into the seventh but Michael Pesci led off the inning with a clean single to left for the Retrievers first hit of the game.

Himmelstein followed with a single to put runners on first and second but Echevarria threw out Pesci trying to steal third and Johnson then got Bryan Russo to ground into a double play to end the inning. The Seawolves added two runs in the bottom of the seventh highlighted by a run-scoring double from Cantwell.

UMBC again threatened in the eighth as Curtis Schickner led off the inning with a triple. Johnson then got Conlon to ground to third, though, which forced Schickner to hold at third. Rick Phillips reached on a Seawolves error to put runners on first and third but Johnson got Mike Lafferty to ground into a double play to keep the Retrievers off the scoreboard.

Stony Brook added a run in the eighth on an RBI double from Stephan and Johnson then retired the side in order in the ninth to give the Seawolves the doubleheader sweep. Marshall led SBU with three hits while Stephan added two hits and two RBI. The teams will wrap up their three-game series on Sunday at University Field. First pitch is set for 12 p.m.