ORONO, Maine – Great pitching combined with solid defensive plays lifted the Stony Brook baseball team to a 2-1 victory over host Maine in the opening game of the 2018 America East Conference Championship on Wednesday morning at Mahaney Diamond.
 
The Seawolves' (30-23, 12-12 AE) starting pitcher sophomore RHP Greg Marino (Lake Grove, N.Y.) and reliever senior RHP Aaron Pinto (West Covina, Calif.) combined to allow seven hits and just one run to the Black Bears (18-33, 12-12 AE). Marino went 7.0 innings and allowed six hits and a run with five strike outs to get the win, while Pinto tossed the final two innings and allowed one hit and struck out two.
 
The Seawolves, the No. 4 seed, will now face top seeded Hartford on Thursday at 11 a.m. at Mahaney Diamond.
 
Turning Point
Stony Brook was able to take advantage of a pair of Maine errors to score two unearned runs in the bottom of the second inning. Sophomore RF Michael Wilson (Colonia, N.J.) and freshman C John Tuccillo (Clinton Corners, N.Y.) scored the Seawolves' runs that were driven in by junior CF Cristian Montes (Pacioma, Calif.) and junior CH Brandon Alamo (Artesia, Calif.).
 
Quoting Head Coach Matt Senk
"That was a very well played baseball game and it is good to be on the winning side. Maine played a great game so I have to give them credit."
 
"(Greg) Marino has just been terrific for us the last month and what you saw from (Aaron) Pinto is what he has done for us all year."
 
Notes/Stats
 

• Senior RHP Aaron Pinto (West Covina, Calif.) earned his 12^th save of the season and 15^th of his career on Wednesday. His 15 saves surpassed former teammate Cam Stone for the Stony Brook career record.
• Pinto's appearance on Wednesday was his 67^th of his career, the fifth most in school history.
• Sophomore RHP Greg Marino (Lake Grove, Calif.) earned his seventh victory of the season on Wednesday and the ninth win of his career.
• Sophomore SS Nick Grande (Smithtown, N.Y.) swiped his 31^st base of the season in the first inning to move into sole possession of second place on Stony Brook's single season steals list. He now is five away from tying Travis Jankowski's 36 set in 2012.
• Sophomore RF Michael Wilson (Colonia, N.J.) had two hits on Wednesday for his 17^th multi-hit game of the season.
• Senior 3B Bobby Honeyman (Massapequa, N.Y.) had two hits on Wednesday and is now just two hits from reaching 200 in his career. Wednesday also marked his team-leading 23 multi-hit game of the season.
• Stony Brook's win was the 30^th of the season, the most wins since the 2015 team recorded 35 victories.
• The Seawolves' win on Wednesday was the program's 30 win in the America East Conference Tournament as well. Stony Brook improved to 30-20 in AE Tournament games in the program's 16h appearances.

 
On Deck?
Stony Brook will face top-seeded Hartford on Thursday at 11 a.m. in the second day of the 2018 America East Conference Championship from Mahaney Diamond.