Joe Pennucci enters his 11th season at Stony Brook and his fifth as the Associate Head Coach of the Seawolves baseball team, having been promoted from assistant coach in August 2012. He also serves as the team's recruiting coordinator and has been instrumental in the program's skyrocketing success.
Since Pennucci arrived prior to the 2007 season, Stony Brook has been to four NCAA Regionals in his tenure, including returning to the NCAA Regional in 2015 after claiming the America East title. Pennucci was also instrumental in the Seawolves' memorable run to the 2012 College World Series when Stony Brook won a school record and NCAA-best 52 games.
In addition to the four America East tournament titles Stony Brook has earned since Pennucci has been on staff, Stony Brook has been dominant in the conference regular season with a combined 107 wins over the past six seasons.
Pennucci has shown that he can recruit and help develop players who can play at the next level as Stony Brook has seen 16 student-athletes get selected in the MLB Draft during his tenure, including three current Major Leaguers (Tom Koehler, Nick Tropeano and Travis Jankowski). The Seawolves also saw a record seven players drafted in 2012, which included the program's first-ever first-round selection in Jankowski.
Over his nine years at Stony Brook, the Seawolves have had a national player of the year, seven All-Americans, and seven freshman All-Americans. Stony Brook has also taken home a combined 14 America East Player, Pitcher and Rookie of the Year awards, including the 2016 Rookie of the Year Bret Clarke.
Pennucci's recruiting class of 2009, which included Jankowski, was re-ranked by Baseball America as the fifth-best recruiting class in the entire nation.
In addition to his duties as recruiting coordinator, Pennucci works with hitters and is responsible for overall team defense. In 2015, Stony Brook's defense ranked among the nation's best with a .978 fielding percentage. In 2012, the Seawolves ranked in the top 10 in the nation in nine offensive categories including batting average, scoring and hits and were 10th in fielding percentage after leading the country in the category in 2011. In 2010, the team also was sixth in the nation in batting average and 30th in fielding.
Prior to his time at Stony Brook, Pennucci served as the associate head baseball coach and recruiting coordinator for the Dominican College Chargers in Orangeburg, N.Y. for two seasons. The Chargers won two conference championships and received an NCAA Regional bid in 2006 after posting a 42-19 record. Pennucci helped the Chargers win 69 games in two seasons and mentored two student-athletes who went on to be selected in the MLB Draft.
Pennucci started his college playing career at Garden City Community College in Kansas. After one season at GCCC he played three seasons at Dana College in Blair, Nebraska where he was an all-conference catcher.
Pennucci grew up in Loveland, Colorado where he attended Loveland High School. He coached for four seasons prior to his collegiate career. He graduated with a psychology degree from the University of Northern Colorado and earned his Masters of Arts liberal studies from Stony Brook University.
