Men's Baseball Splits Weekend Series With Albany

By Chris Monahan

Despite outscoring the Great Danes 31-19, the Seawolves were only able to win two of the four games against Albany this past weekend.

On Saturday, Albany held off a late Stony Brook rally to take game one by a score of 5-4. Albany jumped out to an early 5-1 lead but a Nick Thode solo home run and Pat Cantwell two-run single in the 6th cut the lead to 5-4.

However, Albany reliever Sean Gregory came in to relieve starter Dave Kubiak and secured the Great Dane victory. Kubiak went 5.2 innings, scattering eight hits and three earned runs to pick up the victory.

In game two, the Seawolves took revenge on their opponent and pummeled Albany to the tune of a 16-3 final score. Stony Brook finished the game with 20 hits as seven Seawolves finished with multi-hit efforts.

Chad Marshall led the way for Stony Brook with three hits, four runs scored and two rbis. Nick Thode added three hits of his own in addition to two runs scored. Starting pitcher Mike Errigo baffled the Great Dane hitters and struck out 11 in seven innings pitched while only allowing two earned runs.

On Sunday, Stony Brook picked up right where they left off. Freshman Nick Tropeano tossed a three-hit complete game in the Seawolves 4-1 victory. Tropeano went all seven innings and struck out eight Albany batters. The only run Tropeano yielded was a solo home run off the bat of left fielder Gary Pitcheralle in the top of the third.

Nick Thode homered for the second straight day as his two-run home run in the 3rd inning gave Stony Brook the lead for good. First baseman Rob Dyer chipped in with two hits, a stolen base and scored a run in the win.

Stony Brook looked to win the series in the days second game but failed to do so as they fell to Albany by a score of 10-7. The Stony Brook pitching staff was unable to solve the Great Dane hitters as the first four pitchers allowed all 10 runs (nine earned) through seven innings. Brian Witkowski and Chad Marshall had a pair of two-run homers to give the Seawolves an early lead.

Stony Brook led 6-3 through four innings, but Albany bust out with seven runs over the next three to secure the win. Pete Eichner led the way for Albany with three hits, three runs scored and two runs batted in. Pitcher Sean Gregory played a big role in relief once again and silenced Stony Brook to only one run over the final 5 and 1/3 innings to pick up the victory.

Notes: Stony Brook moves to 20-18 overall and 9-7 in the America East…Brian Witkowski leads the team with eight home runs and is tied for the lead in RBIs with 28…Nick Tropeano leads the team with a 5-0 record, 45 strikeouts and three complete games.