Stony Brook baseball sweeps doubleheader, wins third straight series
Micah Worley pitched like an ace once again, pushing the Stony Brook baseball team to its third consecutive Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) series win.
STONY BROOK, N.Y. — The best aces make names for themselves by also being stoppers, tasked with holding the bleeding after losses. For the second straight weekend, starter Micah Worley did just that for the Seawolves.
A week after registering the most strikeouts in a game by a Stony Brook (14-22, 9-11 CAA) pitcher in a decade, Worley continued his dominant run in the first half of Saturday’s doubleheader. Worley got the Seawolves level in their three-game series against the Monmouth Hawks with eight shutout innings, striking out 10 in a 3-1 win.
“My goal was definitely to come in and repeat what I did last weekend,” Worley said. “I wanted to have two dominant starts back-to-back, and I was able to successfully do that.”
Worley’s start tied the series at a game apiece and shortened the game for head coach Jim Martin’s bullpen in the first game of a twin bill.
“We talked about him going deeper into games, and he took it as motivation and worked really hard,” Martin said. “He was just outstanding. The biggest thing to me is only one walk and obviously the strikeouts.”
Stony Brook scored in the first inning of Saturday’s opening game, as center fielder Nick Zampieron walked, stole second, advanced on a groundout and scored on a sacrifice fly. It scored an insurance run two innings later as left fielder Nick Dromboski stole home, before he tacked on a run-scoring knock to make it 3-0 in the fifth.
In the top of the fifth, Worley was thrown a lifeline by his defense. With two on and one out, Monmouth right fielder Colin Richter ripped a ball wide of first base. However, first baseman Chris Carson laid out, making the snag on a full-extension dive and doubling off shortstop Jimmy Bruno at second.
“[Carson] is unbelievable,” Martin said.
From there, Worley handled things himself, retiring nine of the final 10 Hawks (21-16, 15-6 CAA) that he faced, striking out four.
That made things easy for closer John Rizzo, who, despite surrendering a run, picked up his fourth save of the year thanks to another twin killing by Carson on a line drive.
With Rizzo’s ability to go deep into games, he earned the start in the second game as well, and went 5 ⅓ innings of three-hit ball.
“What a competitor, what a leader,” Martin said. “[Rizzo] wanted the ball. He came to Coach [Mike] Petrowski and said that if he only threw minimal pitches in the first game, he’s ready to start.”
However, Rizzo ran into trouble in the sixth, as two walks and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases with the game tied 2-2. That spelled the end of his night, as Martin pulled him in favor of reliever Christian Martinez.
On just three pitches, Martinez wiggled out of the jam, getting left fielder Nick Lovarco to bounce one back to the mound, starting a 1-2-3 double play.
“The game was tied, so we weren’t in a winning position yet,” Martinez said. “[My mindset was] keep attacking until we get the lead and finish it.”
That lead came an inning later, as with two outs, Zampieron greeted Monmouth reliever David Horvath with a run-scoring single to bring in shortstop Mike Villani and put Stony Brook up 3-2.
“I knew the fastball was coming,” Zampieron said. “Just happy that I was on time and that I was able to put our team in a good position to win the game.”
Even with a pair of eighth-inning runs, Zampieron’s knock proved to be the deciding blow, as Martinez went the final 3 ⅔ scoreless with five strikeouts. Despite 17 walks in 20 ⅔ innings this season, Martinez did not hand out a single free pass on Saturday.
“My dad has been telling me this entire time that getting ahead is the most important thing,” Martinez said. “I was trying to be too savvy with some of my pitches earlier this year, and he got on me about it, and told me that I need to attack the zone more.”
The Hawks’ only win in the series came on Friday, as they scored five runs (three earned) off starter Hunter Colagrande. While Stony Brook battled from behind 4-1 to tie the game, a leadoff homer by Monmouth third baseman Simmi Whitehall in the sixth proved to be the go-ahead score.
The Seawolves could not muster any offense from there and reliever Aidan Colagrande gave up three late runs to give Monmouth an 8-4 win.
But in the end, Stony Brook’s series-opening loss did not matter. Weeks ago, Martin set his goal as six wins in his team’s next nine games. The sweep of Saturday’s doubleheader did just that, clinching the Seawolves’ third straight winning weekend.
“We accomplished our first goal,” Martin said. “We didn’t accomplish our goal in the second quarter of the season; we did in the third. Now, we’re going into the most important quarter.
“We put ourselves back in the mix from a standings standpoint and a [ratings percentage index] standpoint. We’re right there, and that’s kind of where we thought we’d be.”
While Stony Brook was not an offensive juggernaut by any means, it scored 12 runs with only one homer.
“A lot of guys are stepping up this year, and it’s really great to see,” Zampieron said. “This game isn’t just about the power and the home runs. It’s about passing the torch to the next person, keep moving the bat along.”
Zampieron had a five-hit weekend, adding two steals, three runs and the go-ahead run batted in (RBI) in the series finale. Carson, in addition to his stellar defense, went 4-for-16 with a home run, two runs scored, a double and three RBIs.
Right fielder Chanz Doughty went 3-for-9 while Dromboski added three hits in 11 at-bats.
On the mound, the Seawolves held the league’s highest hitting team to just three runs on Sunday. Across his two outings on Saturday, Rizzo went 6 ⅓ innings, allowing three runs and picking up five punchouts.
Now winners in five of its last six, Stony Brook will get a tune-up on Wednesday against Columbia on the road. The Lions are 10-21 this season and have posted a 6-8 mark in Ivy League play. First pitch on Wednesday is set for 3:30 p.m.
About the Author
George Caratzas is the founder and co-editor of The Sideline. As a junior, journalism major at Stony Brook University, he has covered every sport on campus and holds the baseball and men’s basketball beat. When he isn’t covering sports, George enjoys hiking, skiing and photography. Read his work here.