STONY BROOK, N.Y. — Brian Herrmann last had pitched in a college game on April 13, 2019, when he departed a scoreless outing at Binghamton with an elbow issue that ultimately required Tommy John surgery to repair.

The pandemic prevented him from returning during the latter half of last season.

So on Sunday, Herrmann finally had the opportunity to resume — 687 days after he last pitched for the Seawolves.

He suffered a tough-luck defeat as the Stony Brook baseball team was handed its first loss, 2-0, to Sacred Heart at Joe Nathan Field.

Stony Brook threatened in the ninth, getting a leadoff walk from Evan Giordano, followed by a single to left field from John Tuccillo against David Auffiero in his fourth inning of relief. But the Seawolves stranded both baserunners.

"Before the game and even during it a little bit, I was a little emotional," said Herrmann, a redshirt senior from Northport. "I just wanted to put my team in a position to win. I've been waiting two years for this day. I'm just happy to be out here. I'm super-happy I could come back and pitch for Stony Brook again."

Fueled by dominant pitching all weekend, the Seawolves (2-1) nonetheless took two of three games during the season-opening series.

The series marked the first-ever February on-campus games in program history.

Herrmann took a scoreless effort into the sixth inning, when he surrendered a one-out single to Isiah Daubon. The Pioneers then benefited from a dropped fly ball in left field to place two in scoring position. A run-scoring groundout and RBI single followed to break the scoreless tie.

Herrmann was charged with two runs, both unearned, on four hits and three walks in six innings. He struck out four in the 87-pitch effort.

Ryan LaMay tossed five scoreless innings for the Pioneers.

For the three-game weekend, Stony Brook pitching limited the Pioneers to three runs. Jared Milch and Nick DeGennaro combined on a four-hit shutout in the series opener. Sam Turcotte then took a perfect game into the eighth inning in an eventual 7-1 win in Game 2.

"Brian today, and Kyle Johnson after him,  and our pitchers all weekend, did a terrific job," coach Matt Senk said. "I'm really happy for Brian. It's never easy to come back from an injury like he has. And then you add in COVID and everything else, he had a great performance for his first time out in such an extended period of time. I'm very happy for him.

"We've really leaned on our pitching last year, prior to the season being shortened. The guys have picked up where they left off. So the pitchers are doing exactly what we need to do. We've got such a long way to go offensively, especially after today."