Box Score
STONY BROOK, N.Y. - The Hartford baseball team dropped a 5-4, 11-inning, thriller in the final of a three-game series against Stony Brook on Sunday. The Hawks finished with 10 hits, led by Trey Stover, Chris DelDebbio and Adam Touhey who each finished with two. Hartford falls to 10-21 on the season and stands in a two-way tie for second place in the league with an 8-7 conference record.
On the hill, the Hawks were led by sophomore starter Sean Newcomb who finished a six-inning outing allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits. He also walked one and struck out a game-high nine batters. Alex Gouin, Anthony Mannuccia and Jeremy Charles all say time in relief on Newcomb. Gouin pitched into the first extra inning, a total of 3.2 innings of work. He allowed one earned run on three hits and struck out six. Mannuccia was tagged with the loss, 1-3 overall, allowing the game-winning run on three hits, facing just five batters. The other two batters he faced, he struck out.
The Seawolves opened the game scoring a single run in the bottom of the first on a pair of singles and an error on the Hawks. Cole Peragine and Anthony Italiano went back-to-back with one out in the inning. Peragine sent his first hit of the day up the middle, before Italiano muscled his to right field, which allowed Peragine to advance to third and score on a throwing error against the catcher.
The Seawolves extended their lead to 3-0 with two more runs in the sixth before the Hawks scored their four runs in the top of the seventh taking their first and only lead of the game. The Hawks opened the seventh with four-straight batters hitting safely. DelDebbio opened the inning with a single to left field before Ryan Lukach and Knauth each doubled with Knauth's two-bagger knocking in DelDebbio and Lukach. Touhey followed that up with a three-bagger to left center which allowed Knauth to score easily. The final run of the inning came courtesy of a one-out single up the middle from Stover.
The home squad responded by tying the game in their half of the seventh with third baseman Johnny Caputo leading off the inning with a triple to right center off Gouin who relieved Newcomb to start the seventh. Centerfielder Joshua Mason followed that with his first of two key RBI's, the game tying one on a single through the left side.
Mason's second RBI, the game-winning knock, came in the 11th after the Hawks threatened to score the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th following a leadoff double down the left field line from Stover. In the 11th Italiano led off the inning with the first of three singles, sending his through the left side. Following pair of strikeouts for Mannuccia, the Seawolves scattered back-to-back singles from Caputo and Mason, the second of which secured the series victory for the home team.
The Hawks continue a stretch of 16 of their next 18 dates on the road with a pair of mid-week games at Quinnipiac on Tuesday, April 16 and at UMass on Wednesday, April 17. The Hawks and Bobcats are scheduled for a 3:00 p.m. first pitch at the QU Baseball Field. On Wednesday, the Hawks and Minutemen meet in a rescheduled game from March with the first pitch scheduled for 3:00 p.m. at Earl Lorden Field.a
