STONY BROOK, N.Y. - For the second time this week, Stony Brook baseball freshman Erik Paulsen has been named an All-American. This time, the two-way player was honored by Perfect Game Baseball after the organization announced the 2024 list on Wednesday. He was the only player from the CAA and becomes the first player in program history to be garnished the award. 

Paulsen was a force for the Seawolves at the plate and on the bump during his rookie campaign. The left-hander went 2-1 in his 15 appearances and tossed 42.0 innings. Used mostly in late-game situations and as the primary closer, Paulsen finished with six saves and a 3.21 ERA. Paulsen's six saves, were tied for third in the CAA, tied for fifth in program history and tied for second in the country among freshmen. 

The Long Island native served as the Seawolves designated hitter and finished with a slash line of .299/.392/.458. Hitting in all four spots at the top of the batting order, he led all freshmen on the team and ranked top-three in numerous offensive categories, including batting average, on-base percentage, hits (53), home runs (4), runs batted in (24), doubles (16) and total bases (81). He was also tied for second on the team in multi-hit games (14) and tied for third in multi-RBI games (5).

The program's first-ever CAA Player of the Year, Paulsen earned himself a spot on the CAA All-Rookie team and was an All-CAA Honorable Mention. He also was the only player in the conference to be named CAA Rookie of the Week on three different occasions during the season (March 4, March 11 and April 25). 

On May 15, Paulsen was the first player in program history to be named a semifinalist for the historic John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award by the College Baseball Foundation which honors the best two-way player in Division I. He also became the 15th freshman in program history to earn an All-American nod after the rookie was named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Freshman All-America Second Team on June 12. 

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