THE BASICS:
 
RESULT:  Game 1 — Hartford 7, Stony Brook 3; Game 2 — Hartford 5, Stony Brook 4 (10 innings)
LOCATION: Fiondella Field (West Hartford, Conn.)
RECORDS:  Hartford (13-19, 5-6 America East), Stony Brook (17-18, 5-6 AE)
Game 1 — W:  Brian Stepniak (2-2) L: Greg Marino (1-2) S: Seth Pinkerton (3)
Game 2 — W:  John LaRossa (3-3) L: Teddy Rodliff (3-1)
 
 
THE LEAD: 
The University of Hartford baseball team (13-19, 5-6) picked up a pair of key America East victories Saturday afternoon, defeating Stony Brook in both ends of their conference doubleheader. The Hawks took game one, 7-3, and claimed a 5-4 walk-off victory in the 10^th inning of game two. With the wins, Hartford clinched its first series victory of the season.
 
The Hawks wrapped up the doubleheader in dramatic fashion when junior shortstop Ben Bengtson ripped a one-out walk-off single to left field off Stony Brook relief pitcher Teddy Rodliff (3-1). Right fielder got the game-winning rally started when he drew a leadoff walk and advanced on a perfectly placed sacrifice bunt by first baseman David MacKinnon. After the Seawolves intentionally walked Ashton Bardzell, Bengtson's single scored Nick Campana from second base.
 
Hartford senior Brian Stepniak (2-2) picked up the win in game one, throwing seven strong innings for the Hawks. Stepniak scattered five hits, allowing three earned runs (all in the third inning) while striking out a season-high six batters. Closer Seth Pinkerton didn't allow a hit in 1.1 innings to earn his third save of the season. Senior reliever John LaRossa (3-3) pitched a season-high 2.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen to earn the game-two victory.
 
 
GAME 1
The Seawolves took a 3-0 lead in game one in the third inning of game one. After Stepniak recorded a pair of quick outs, Stony Brook rallied for four consecutive hits. That one inning represented four of the five hits Stepniak allowed all afternoon. Hartford answered with five runs in bottom half of the inning, four of which came on a grand slam by junior third baseman TJ Ward. It was Ward's second grand slam in as many games.
 
Bengtson's two-run single in the fourth inning pushed Hartford's lead to 7-3 and Stepniak turned the ball over to the Hawks' bullpen in the eighth. Drew Farkas recorded a pair of outs and allowed two hits, before Pinkerton came on to close out the win.
 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED (Game 1):

• Stony Brook scored three runs in the third, all coming with two outs. Second baseman Brandon Janofsky, first baseman Casey Baker and third baseman Bobby Honeyman each had RBI singles for the Seawolves.
• Bengtson drove in the Hawks' first run with a sacrifice fly to right field in the third inning. Later in the frame, Ward connected for a two-out grand slam just over the fence in left field.
• Bengtson came through again in the fourth, driving in a pair with a two-out single through the right side to give Hartford a 7-3 advantage.

 
 
GAME 2
The Hawks had Stony Brook on the ropes in game two, which was originally scheduled for seven innings. Hartford led, 3-1, in the seventh before the Seawolves rallied for a pair of runs to tie the game and force extra innings.
 
Stony Brook took the lead, briefly, in the eighth when Dylan Resk led off with a home run to left field to make it 4-3. Facing a one-run deficit, Bengtson lifted a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Campana and tied the game and LaRossa held the Seawolves at bay the rest of the way. Bengtson made a winner out of LaRossa with his 10th-inning walkoff.
 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED (Game 2):

• The Seawolves jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI single by David Real.
• Ward tied the game with a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the second.
• Hartford took the lead on an RBI triple by Campana, scoring designated hitter Jackson Olson. MacKinnon followed up with an RBI single up the middle, plating Campana to give the Hawks a 3-1 advantage.
• Stony Brook scored a pair of runs to tie the game in seventh. Tobey Handley drove in Mike Wilson with a one-out single to up the middle and the Seawolves tied the game with a fielder's choice off the bat of Casey Baker.
• Resk led off the eighth inning with a home run, giving Stony Brook a 4-3 lead.
• Bengtson came through with a sacrifice fly in the bottom half of the inning, scoring Campana, who had led off the frame with a single.
• After a scoreless ninth, Campana drew a leadoff walk in the 10th, advanced on MacKinnon's sac bunt and came around to score on Bengtson's walk-off.

 
 
NEXT UP:
The weekend series will conclude on Sunday, with the finale slated for a noon start. It will be the final regular season matchup between the Hawks and Seawolves. Sophomore right-hander Connor Lewis (2-2, 5.74 ERA) will go up against Stony Brook's Bret Clarke (2-3, 7.36 ERA).
 
The Hawks have seen Clarke already this season, when they tagged him for five runs on six hits in six innings on March 24. Clarke took the no-decision but Hartford won the game, 8-7. It was the Hawks' lone win of that series. Lewis hasn't pitched against Stony Brook this year.