By Cameron Boon
STONY Brook, N.Y. — The Seawolves baseball team came into the weekend with a one game lead over the Hartford Hawks in the America East conference with three more weekend series before the conference tournament. After slipping in game one 2-1, Stony Brook was able to salvage the series and a share of the lead by taking the nightcap Saturday 11-3 and the Sunday game 4-1.
Alex Calbick started the scoring for the Black Bears in game one when he homered to right field off Seawolves starter Frankie Vanderka in the top of the fourth.
That was one of seven hits Vanderka let up on the day while only striking out two batters as he battled for six innings.
Maine then doubled the lead in the next frame. Luke Morrill started the top of the fifth with a single to left field. Two batters later, he moved over to third via a sacrifice bunt and passed ball. Sam Balzano then singled through the left side, scoring Morrill and making it a 2-0 game.
Stony Brook would try to rally in the bottom of the sixth, but only cut the lead in half. Kevin Courtney started the rally with a single to right field with one out. After Cole Peragine was set down on strikes, Courtney was able to steal second while the next batter, Casey Baker was at the plate.
This was the start of Baker’s Rookie of the Week worthy series, as he roped a double down the left field line, cutting the lead to 2-1. “Casey has been terrific for us,” coach Matt Senk said. “He has been as clutch as anybody on the team.”
The Seawolves were not able to score again on Black Bear starter Tommy Lawrence, as he held the Seawolves to the lone run while claiming seven strikeout victims.
Game two was the complete opposite for the Seawolves, as they put a five-spot on Maine to start the nightcap. Jack Parenty started the game with a groundout, but after that the enslaught was on.
Cole Peragine scored Kevin Krause and Robert Chavarria, putting Stony Brook up 2-0. Courtney then scored on a wild pitch, and Peragine was driven in by Baker’s RBI triple, making it 4-0.
Johnny Caputo’s sacrifice fly to center then made it 5-0, and Maine was finally able to get out of the inning.
But they weren’t able to stop the bleeding for long.
The Seawolves were able to put three more on the board in the bottom of the second, by way of two RBI singles by Krause and Peragine.
Baker’s sacrifice fly also added a run in the inning, making it 8-0.
Peragine and Baker both finished with three RBI’s in the second game, and the Seawolves, after adding one in the fourth and two more in the fifth were on their way to a victory, up comfortably 11-3.
Maine got all three of their runs in the top of the fourth, two of which came by fielding errors.
Other than that inning, it was a good day for the Seawolves offense and their starter Brandon McNitt. He improved to 5-1 on the season by striking out seven batters and only walking two.
Game three started just like game one did, with not a lot of offense, for the Seawolves at least. “We came out flat,” coach Senk said.
The Black Bears were able to put a lot of pressure on Seawolves, loading the bases in the second, third, and fifth, all with one out in the inning.
Tyler Honahan stayed composed, however, and worked out of the jams that mostly he created, not the Maine bats. He walked two of the three base runners aboard in all three innings.
Honahan worked out of the jams by striking out the final two batters int eh third and the fifth. These were four of his nine strikeouts on the day.
“This could’ve been a very different game if he wasn’t tough and resilient,” Senk said. “It’s hard enough to get away with it one time, never mind three.”
Steven Adam broke the ice in the sixth, with a single to left field, scoring Scott Heath and putting Maine up 1-0.
In the bottom of the sixth, Casey was clutch again. Jeff Gelinas was working a no-hitter into the sixth, but Kevin Krause broke that with a one-out double that landed 5 feet below the top of the fence.
Baker then singled in Krause to tie the game with a hard grounder up the middle. “Tying the game helped the momentum shift,” Senk said.
Cole Peragine then gave the Seawolves the lead for good in the bottom of the eighth, when a line drive to center field was just out of the reach of center fielder Colin Gay, and bounced over his glove to the center field wall.
Krause and Courtney both scored on the play, and Stony Brook had the lead 3-1. Baker was the next man up, and he put an exclamation point on his sensational weekend with another triple, scoring Peragine and making it 4-1.
Cameron Stone then came in to get the final three outs in the ninth for his eighth save of the season.
With Hartford sweeping UMBC, there is a tie at the top of the conference between the Hawks and Seawolves at 13-4.
A version of this article was published in The Statesman
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