STONY BROOK, N.Y. --The Stony Brook Seawolves responded from down 7-6 in the eighth inning to win in breathtaking fashion, rallying to secure an 8-7 walk-off victory on a balk in the 10th inning over the Towson Tigers Saturday at Joe Nathan Field.
Colin Rhein (1-0) picked up the victory out of the bullpen for Stony Brook (19-17, 8-6) and was stellar this afternoon. The right-hander went eight innings, giving up two runs, one earned, on four hits, allowing two walks and striking out six.
At the plate, the Seawolves were led by Brett Paulsen, who went 2-for-5 on the day with a double and an RBI. Matt Miceli put together a noteworthy day at the plate as well, going 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Matt Brown-Eiring also contributed for Stony Brook by tallying two RBI in the victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Left-hander Nicholas Rizzo got the ball for the Seawolves this afternoon, making his 10th start of the season. The Tigers got to the rookie early by putting up five runs over the first two innings, forcing Rhein into the game.
After Towson tacked on a run in the third inning to make the score 5-0, the Seawolves responded with three runs of their own in the inning. The bottom of the order sparked the Seawolves as Ryan Micheli led the inning off with a single, followed by a walk from Chris Carson and knock by Cam Santerre to load the bases with no outs. Evan Fox did his job by bringing home Micheli on a sac-fly and Miceli brought in Carson with a knock in the next at-bat. Brown-Eiring finished off the rally by driving in Santerre on a ground-out, making the score 5-3.
The Tigers expanded their lead to 7-3 after scoring in the fourth and sixth innings. But, the Seawolves offense got back to work by cutting into that lead in the seventh. Stony Brook got the rally going by three straight hit-by-pitches to start the inning from Santerre, Fox, and Miceli. Brown-Eiring brought in Santerre via sac-fly and the Seawolves made the most of a Tiger error that brought home Fox.
Johnny Pilla concluded the rally by grounding out to short, bringing it Miceli that made the score 7-6.
Rhein held the Tigers scoreless in the eighth and ninth frames, giving the Seawolves a chance in their final trip to the plate. Erik Paulsen got the one-out rally going by doubling to right field. Few batters later, B. Paulsen drove in E. Paulsen on a screamer to right field, tying the game at 1-1.
Following the right-hander for Stony Brook stranding two Tiger runners in the 10th, Fox got the frame started with a hit and would ultimately score the winning run on a balk from Towson.
STATS AND NOTES
- Rhein struck out six Tigers hitters and went 8.0 innings out of the pen for his second victory of the season. It was the second time this season Rhein tossed at-least 8.0 innings (8.1 vs Iona on March 26).
- Every Stony Brook starter reached base safely in the win.
- Stony Brook's highest scoring inning was the seventh, when it pushed three runs across.
- Stony Brook pitchers faced 42 Towson hitters in the game, allowing 11 ground balls and 10 fly balls while striking out seven.
- The Seawolves drew seven walks from Towson pitching. Stony Brook is 6-0 this season when they reached seven or more walks.
- Stony Brook got hit by six pitches, marking a new season-high.
- The 30 putouts by the Seawolves this afternoon marked a new season-best.
- B. Paulsen led the Seawolves at the plate, going 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI. It marked his seventh multi-hit game of the year.
- Brown-Eiring had a team-high two RBI in the victory. He leads the team with nine multi-RBI games this season.
- This is the second extra inning victory for the Seawolves this season (March 8 vs Siena).
- Stony Brook moves to 10-4 at Joe Nathan Field this season.
- With the victory, the Seawolves secure the series victory over the Tigers.
- Stony Brook is now 3-3 all-time against Towson.
UP NEXT
The Seawolves will look for the sweep for the Tigers tomorrow afternoon at Joe Nathan Field. First pitch is slated for noon and can be streamed live on FloBaseball.
