BATON ROUGE, La. -- The Stony Brook baseball team found their magic again in Baton Rouge after defeating No. 2/3 and the reigning National Champions, Louisiana State University (LSU) Tigers, 5-2, on Friday at Alex Box Stadium.
In the first game of the doubleheader, the Seawolves were narrowly edged by Northwestern St., 5-2.
GAME 1: NORTHWESTERN ST. 5, STONY BROOK 2
Despite picking up nine hits in the ballgame and out-hitting Northwestern State, Stony Brook was unable to push across more runs, as the Seawolves fell to the Demons 5-2 in the first game of the doubleheader.
Senior Ty Saunders (0-1) started and took the loss after he went 5.0 innings, allowing four runs and struck out two on the mound for Stony Brook (1-4). Junior JT Raab tossed three innings, surrendering one run on two hits, walking two and striking out two.
Offensively, the Seawolves were led by senior Matt Brown-Eiring, who went 1-for-4 on the day with a home run and an RBI. Freshman Chris Carson put together a noteworthy day at the plate as well, going 2-for-4 with an RBI. Junior M. Miceli also chipped in for Stony Brook, putting together two hits in four trips to the plate while adding a double.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Seawolves were trailing 2-0 in the fifth inning when they first put runs on the board. Stony Brook got an RBI single from Carson, scoring Miceli from second base.
The Demons expanded their lead to 5-1 before the Seawolves offense got back to work, cutting into that lead in the eighth. Stony Brook picked up a run on Brown-Eiring's two-out solo home run off of junior Caleb Bunch, which brought the score to 5-2 in favor of the Demons. The Seawolves were unable to get any closer, as neither team scored again in the ballgame.
STATS AND NOTES
- Stony Brook's highest scoring inning was the eighth, when it pushed one run across.
- The Seawolves out-hit the Demons at a 9-6 clip.
- Stony Brook pitchers faced 35 Northwestern State hitters in the game, allowing 10 ground balls and 10 fly balls while striking out four.
- Brown-Eiring led the Seawolves at the plate, going 1-for-4 with a home run and an RBI. It was the first homerun by the senior since May 7th of last season against Delaware.
GAME 2: STONY BROOK 5, LSU 2
Stony Brook received contributions from every part of their lineup, as all nine starters reached base safely, helping the Seawolves put five runs on the board, while sophomore Eddie Smink and Freshman Eric Paulsen kept the Tigers bats at ease in the 5-2 victory over No. 2/3 LSU at Alex Box Stadium on Friday.
Sophomore Eddie Smink (1-1) started on the mound and picked up the win for Stony Brook (2-4). The right-hander went five innings, giving up two runs, one earned, on three hits, allowing three walks and striking out seven. Freshman Erik Paulsen was a spark out of the pen for the Seawolves, starting the ballgame and throwing four scoreless innings while allowing three hits, with one walk and two strikeouts.
Junior Robert Taylor led the way offensively for the Seawolves, going 2-for-4 in the ballgame with two doubles and three RBI. Senior Brett Paulsen provided a noteworthy performance at the plate as well, going 3-for-4. Junior Evan Goforth also helped out, going 1-for-5 for Stony Brook with a double.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Seawolves put runs on the scoreboard first, starting the scoring in the second inning. Stony Brook pushed across two runs in the frame, the big blow coming on an RBI double from Taylor after Brown-Eiring and Paulsen led the inning off with hits, followed by a one-out single from Miceli to load the bases.
After the Tigers rallied to tie the ballgame at two, the Seawolves came back to retake the lead in the fourth inning following the 1-2-3 from Smink. Stony Brook scored a run when senior Cam Santerre drew a walk from junior Thatcher Hurd that scored freshman E. Paulsen, which brought the Seawolves lead to 3-2. This time, it was E. Paulsen leading off the inning with a knock and walks by Leone and Fox loaded the bases.
Stony Brook held LSU scoreless before building their lead to 5-2 in the eighth inning. Sophomore Eddie Smink was dominating in his final two innings of work by striking out four of his final seven batters of the afternoon. Smink tossed a total of 5.0 innings, allowing three hits, two runs (one earned) and striking out seven (one shy of career-high).
E. Paulsen entered the game in the sixth and stranded runners on first and second base to keep the Seawolves three run lead. After E. Paulsen tossed a double-play to end the seventh, the
Seawolves would push two runs across on a two-run double off the bat of Taylor that scored senior M. Brown-Eiring and senior B. Paulsen.
The freshman would retire six of the next seven batters as the score remained 5-2 for the rest of the game to give the Seawolves the victory.
STATS AND NOTES
- Every Stony Brook starter reached base safely in the win.
- Stony Brook's highest scoring inning was the eighth, when it pushed two runs across.
- The Seawolves out-hit the Tigers at a 10-6 clip.
- Stony Brook pitchers limited LSU to just 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
- Stony Brook pitchers faced 37 LSU hitters in the game, allowing 10 ground balls and six fly balls while striking out nine.
- Smink struck out seven Tigers hitters in the victory. It was one shy of his career-high (8 at Delaware on May. 7). It was also the fifth time in his career that he gave up only one earned run and went at-least five innings on the bump.
- In his second career appearance, E. Paulsen went 4.0 innings, allowing no runs and striking out two batters. He now leads the team with a 2.84 ERA and tied for most appearances.
- Taylor led the Seawolves at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI. It was the first RBI as a Seawolf for the junior and first multi-hit game for Stony Brook.
- Paulsen compiled three base knocks in the game for Stony Brook. It was the 13th time of his career that he recorded at least three hits in a game.
- Brown-Eiring tallied two hits and scored two runs. He leads the team with 10 RBI this season.
- Miceli and Santerre each tallied a base-knock.
- Stony Brook is now 3-2 all-time against LSU.
- This marks the second Power-Five victory of the season for Stony Brook (10-8 win over Purdue on Feb. 17).
- With the victory over No. 2/3 Tigers, this marks the highest ranked victory in program history.
QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
"It just seemed like in today's first game versus Northwestern State, we were trying to do too much offensively and never found our stride," said head coach Matt Senk. "Which was very unfortunate for Ty Saunders who had a solid start for us. Game two was about the one- two punch on the mound of starter Eddie Smink and Erik Paulsen in relief. They both were terrific. Also, credit to the hitters for correcting their anxiousness and lack of patience in game one. They had a lot of quality at bats and timely hits to help earn the victory over an outstanding LSU team."
UP NEXT
The Seawolves return to Alex Box Stadium to face off against Northwestern St. at 7:00 p.m.
