STONY BROOK, N.Y. – After falling behind 4-0 early, the Seawolves powered back with four home runs—including two from
Erik Paulsen—while right-hander
John Rizzo delivered 5.1 scoreless innings to lead Stony Brook to a 16-6 win in seven innings, securing the series victory at Joe Nathan Field.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Hunter Colagrande took the mound for the Seawolves, but Niagara struck first, plating four runs on four hits in the opening inning.
- Stony Brook wasted no time responding. Evan Goforth was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the first, followed by a walk from Paulsen. Nico Azpilcueta then launched his first home run as a Seawolf, a three-run shot to cut the deficit to 4-3.
- Niagara tacked on two more runs in the top of the second, extending their lead to 6-3. After an RBI double and a run scored on a wild pitch, Rizzo entered in relief and struck out the final batter to end the inning.
- Nick Solorzano got the Seawolves back on the board in the bottom of the second, doubling with one out and later scoring on a Niagara error to make it 6-4.
- Rizzo settled in, tossing a perfect top of the third with two strikeouts before Stony Brook erupted for five runs in the bottom half to take a 9-6 lead. Paulsen started the rally with a ground-rule double and scored on a Matt Jackson groundout. Chanz Doughty followed with a two-run homer, and later in the inning, Solorzano added an RBI single before Matt Miceli capped the rally with an RBI triple.
- After Rizzo induced an inning-ending double play in the fourth, Paulsen extended the lead with a solo home run. Rizzo continued his dominance with a 1-2-3 fifth, and Miceli added another RBI single to push the advantage to 11-6.
- Stony Brook put the game out of reach with a five-run sixth inning. Paulsen crushed his second homer of the day, Johnny Pilla scored on a wild pitch, and Doughty drove in two more with an RBI single. Miceli closed the scoring with another RBI knock, giving the Seawolves a 16-6 cushion.
- Rizzo finished his stellar outing in the seventh, striking out two of the final three batters to secure the 10-run victory via the mercy rule.
STATS AND NOTES
- The Seawolves struck out just once in the entire game.
- Stony Brook hit for the cycle as a team in the third inning (Solorzano - single, Paulsen - double, Miceli - triple, Doughty - homerun).
- The Seawolves were clutch, going .500 (5-for-10) with five RBIs with two outs.
- Stony Brook recorded 10 or more hits in every game of the series.
- The leadoff hitter reached base at an .833 clip (5-for-6) in the win.
- The Seawolves hit .438 (7-for-16) with runners in scoring position.
- Stony Brook improves to 2-1 all-time against Niagara.
- Erik Paulsen went 3-for-3 with two home runs, four runs scored, and a walk—his first career multi-homer game. He now leads the CAA in hits (20) and ranks third in batting average (.408) and on-base percentage (.531). Paulsen also leads the team in multi-hit games and joins Azpilcueta as the only players to reach base in every game this season.
- Nico Azpilcueta extended his on-base streak to every game this season, hitting his first home run while scoring three runs and stealing a base.
- Chanz Doughty delivered his third multi-hit game in four contests, going 2-for-3 with a home run and a career-high four RBIs.
- Matt Miceli notched his first three-hit game of the season, driving in a season-high three runs while going 3-for-4 with a triple.
- Nick Solorzano registered his first hits of the season, going 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI, and two runs scored.
- John Rizzo earned his second win of the season with a dominant 5.1-inning performance, allowing just two hits and striking out six. Over his last two outings, he has pitched 10.1 innings with 10 strikeouts and just one run allowed, improving to 2-0.
NEXT UP
The Seawolves return to action on Tuesday, hosting St. John's. First pitch is set for 2:00 p.m., and the game will be streamed live on FloBaseball.
