STONY BROOK, N.Y. — Third baseman Bobby Honeyman parlayed a first-team All-America East performance as a senior in 2018 into getting drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 29th round that June.

Honeyman will open this season at Double-A Arkansas. And Evan Giordano, the student-athlete currently at the hot corner for Stony Brook baseball, has been duplicating his predecessor's output.

Giordano  has team highs with a .368 batting average, three homers, 21 RBIs, a .456 on-base percentage and a .552 slugging percentage this season. He also has seven steals, one off the team lead, in eight attempts.

He has hit .436 (24-for-55) since being inserted in the leadoff spot to coincide with conference play.

As Stony Brook improved to 11-1 in America East by taking three of four games at UMass Lowell this past weekend, Giordano had hits in seven straight at-bats. He reached base in nine straight plate appearances.

The 7-for-7 output was the longest streak of consecutive hits by a Seawolf since Honeyman had hits in nine straight at-bats, against Iona and Maine, in April 2018.

"This weekend I was getting more offspeed pitches than usual," Giordano said. "I noticed that, so I just went up there and tried to be aggressive and find a pitch early in the count I could do some damage with. I think that mindset of being aggressive early in the at-bat helped me a lot this weekend, and really this season in general."

As a sophomore in 2020, Giordano hit safely in his opening 10 games — the longest streak to begin a season since Honeyman hit safely in a dozen straight games to begin in 2016.

Giordano's teammate, John Tuccillo, subsequently opened this season with an 11-game hitting streak.

Giordano had an 11-game hitting streak this season as well. He hit .455 (20-for-44) with 17 runs scored and 14 RBIs during that stretch from March 12 through April 2. That included driving in 10 runs during a four-game stretch against UAlbany and Hartford.

"Ever since associate head coach Jim Martin suggested a change in the lineup to get the offense jumpstarted, perhaps no one has benefited from the shakeup more than Evan Giordano in the leadoff spot," coach Matt Senk said. "Evan has not only done all the things you expect from a leadoff guy — hitting for a high average, getting on base at an incredible rate and stealing bases when the opportunity presents itself — but Evan also has done tons of damage that you'd expect from your middle-of-the-order hitters by showing extra base hit and home run power as well as the knack for the timely hit. He has produced a lot of RBIs for himself and the team.

"Overall, Evan has been an integral part to the team's early success in conference play. With the consistency he's shown to date, Evan should continue to help us the remainder of our season and hopefully into the playoffs."