STONY BROOK, N.Y. – The Stony Brook Seawolves erupted for five runs in the fourth inning and held Manhattan to just three hits en route to a commanding 10-4 victory on Tuesday afternoon at Joe Nathan Field.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Right-hander Ty Panariello started strong, walking the first batter but quickly recovering with a foul out, a caught stealing by Scott Gell, and a pop-up to end the inning. The Seawolves went down in order in the bottom of the first, keeping the game scoreless through one.
- Panariello returned in the second, delivering a clean 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout. However, Stony Brook's offense remained quiet, going down in order again as the teams remained tied. The right-hander continued his dominance in the third, retiring all three batters and capping the frame with a strikeout. The Seawolves were held hitless again, leaving both teams off the scoreboard.
- Reliever Matt Sgambati entered in the fourth and fired a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts. Stony Brook's offense then came alive in the bottom half. Nick Zampieron led off with a walk, becoming the Seawolves' first baserunner of the game. Erik Paulsen advanced him with a groundout, and after Zampieron stole third, Nico Azpilcueta broke the deadlock with an infield single. Chanz Doughty and Evan Goforth were hit by back-to-back pitches, setting the stage for Brett Davino's sacrifice fly, which made it 2-0. An error on a ground ball from Gell allowed another run to score, and Chris Carson capped the explosive inning with a two-run single, giving Stony Brook a 5-0 advantage.
- Manhattan responded with three runs in the fifth, cutting the deficit to 5-3, but Azpilcueta quickly answered in the bottom half with a towering solo home run—his sixth in the last seven games—pushing the lead to 6-3.
- In the sixth, after the Seawolves held the Jaspers scoreless, Carson blasted a solo homer over the right-field fence to extend the lead to 7-3.
- Aidan Colagrande recorded the first out of the seventh before handing the ball to Jacob Pedersen, who struck out one and induced a pop-up to end the frame. Stony Brook's offense continued to roll in the bottom of the seventh. Zampieron led off with a single, Paulsen reached on catcher's interference, and Azpilcueta delivered an RBI double. Doughty followed with an RBI single, and James Schaffer added a pinch-hit RBI single to push the lead to 10-3.
- Pedersen breezed through the eighth with a 1-2-3 inning, striking out the final batter. In the ninth, left-hander Nicholas Rizzo entered to close it out. Manhattan managed to plate one run, but the Seawolves secured the 10-4 victory.
STATS AND NOTES
- Chris Carson recorded his second home run of the season and a season-best three RBIs, going 2-for-4 with a run scored.
- Nico Azpilcueta remained red-hot, hitting a home run for the sixth time in seven games. He finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs, three runs scored, and a double. His three hits marked his first three-hit game of the season, and he has now reached base in every game this year.
- James Schaffer notched his first career hit with a pinch-hit RBI single.
- Chanz Doughty and Nick Zampieron each added a hit in the win.
- Ty Panariello tossed three scoreless innings without allowing a hit in his first start of the season.
- Matt Sgambati delivered his third scoreless outing in four appearances, striking out two in a clean fourth inning.
- Ryan Dieguez recorded his second straight scoreless appearance, retiring all four batters he faced in 1.1 innings of work.
- Aidan Colagrande made his season debut, retiring both batters he faced, including one via strikeout.
- Stony Brook capitalized with runners in scoring position, going 5-for-12 (.417).
- The Seawolves played error-free defense for the sixth time in their last seven games and lead the conference with a .982 fielding percentage.
- The Seawolves' pitching staff allowed just three hits, a new season-low, and held their opponent without a home run for the first time in seven games.
- Stony Brook limited Manhattan to just one extra-base hit, matching their season-best performance.
- The Seawolves improved to 9-6 all-time against the Jaspers, winning three of the last four matchups.
NEXT UP
Stony Brook heads to North Carolina this weekend for a three-game series against North Carolina A&T. First pitch on Friday is set for 6:00 p.m. and will be streamed live on FloCollege.
