STONY BROOK, N.Y. — The Stony Brook Baseball team (13-19, 5-9 CAA) got off to a fast start against Northeastern University (27-7, 9-5 CAA) this afternoon by dropping four runs on the team from Boston in the first inning and never looked back to ultimately take the 11-3 victory at Joe Nathan Field.
The offense was paced by four different student-athletes recording three-hit performances as graduate Evan Giordano, senior Brett Paulsen, the junior tandem of Evan Fox and junior Matt Brown-Eiring all tallied three knocks and at-least one RBI.
Fox got the bottom half of the first inning started with a knock, which extended his on-base streak to 30 games to start the season. After stealing second, junior Ryan Micheli knocked in Fox on a screamer to center field.
Graduate Evan Giordano singled in the next at-bat and both Giordano and Micheli stole a bag to get themselves in scoring position. Then, senior Shane Paradine did his job by driving home Micheli on a sac-fly to give Stony Brook a 2-0 advantage. Junior Matt Brown-Eiring tallied his first of three hits to bring home Giordano and a few batters later, Paulsen capped the rally by bringing in Brown-Eiring on a hit to right field, giving Stony Brook a 4-0 lead after the first inning.
Stony Brook carried their momentum at the plate over the next three innings by tallying three runs in the second, two runs in the third, and a run in the fourth. It was the top of the Stony Brook order that did the damage in the second inning. Micheli started the rally by reaching on a hit-by-pitch, followed by Giordano advancing him to third on a double and Paradine loading the bases after he was hit by a pitch. Brown-Eiring and Paulsen both recorded RBI knocks, and junior Derek Yalon brought in a run on a double-play, giving Stony Brook the 7-0 advantage. Fox also tallied an RBI single in the next inning.
The Seawolves sent out senior Josh O'Neill to make his second conference start of the season and make his 11th start of his career. For the second week in a row, O'Neill reocrded the victory as he tossed 6.0 innings, allowing three hits, one run (earned) and struck out eight batters.
Again in the third inning it was the top-of-the-order for Stony Brook that was doing the damage. Fox led the frame off by doubling and scored after Giordano knocked him in on a single. Following a Paradine double, Brown-Eiring knocked in Giordano on a sac-fly giving the squad a 9-0 lead in the third.
After O'Neill left the game in the seventh, the Huskies tallied a run in the frame but Brown-Eiring responded in the next half inning with his fifth homer of the season to give Stony Brook the 11-2 advantage.
Sophomore JT Raab finished off the final three innings out of the pen for Stony Brook to seal the victory and earn the second save of his career.
STATS AND NOTES
- Brown-Eiring tied his season-high with three hits and four RBI this afternoon after going 3-for-4 at the dish. The junior also had three hits and four RBI against Lafayette on March 10. His home run in the eighth inning was the fifth of the season and 16th for his career. He has a hit in six of his last games, including three multi-hit performances.
- Paulsen continued to rake at the plate as he finished the game by going 3-for-5 with two RBI. He has a hit in 15 of his last 16 games and is 6-for-12 in his last three games. The senior boosted his average to .298 on the season.
- Giordano marked his team-high 15th multi-hit game of the season and his sixth game this season with at-least three hits by tallying a 3-for-5 performance with three runs scored as well. The three runs that the third baseman scored tied a season-high. He has a hit in nine of his last 10 games, including a knock in his last four outings.
- Fox has now reached-base in all 30 games this season after going 3-for-5 with a double, RBI, and scored twice. It was the fourth time this season Fox registered at least three hits. Also, the junior had two stolen-bases which moves him to 24 on the season which leads the CAA.
- O'Neill recorded his second consecutive conference victory in a row after tossing 6.0 innings, allowing one run, three hits, and struck out eight batters. It was the fourth victory of the season and 11th of his career. Also, it was just the second time in his career that he registered at-least eight punch outs (10 on April 9 against William & Mary).
- Raab finished the final three innings out of the pen to earn his second save of the season. He allowed two runs (earned), two hits and struck out three batters.
- The 11 runs and 17 hits was the second most the Seawolves have tallied in a conference game this season (15 runs and 19 hits at College of Charleston on March 19).
- Stony Brook hit for an average of .447 at the plate this afternoon, a new season-best.
- The Seawolves are now 8-15 all-time against Northeastern.
UP NEXT
The rubber game of this three-game set in Stony Brook is scheduled for tomorrow at noon. Freshman Eddie Smink will start for Stony Brook, facing Eric Yost.
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