THE BASICS:
 
RESULTS: No.1 Hartford 2, No. 4 Stony Brook 0
RECORDS: Hartford (24-29, 16-8 AE), Stony Brook (31-26, 12-12 AE)
LOCATION: Mahaney Diamond (Orono, Maine.)
 
THE LEAD:
In its opening game of the #AEBase Tournament, the top-seeded and America East Regular-Season Champion University of Hartford baseball team topped the fourth-seeded Stony Brook Seawolves, 2-0, on Mahaney Diamond on Thursday in Orono. With the Victory, the Hawks move on in the winner's bracket, where they will play the winner of No. 2 UMass Lowell/No. 6 UAlbany at 11 a.m. tomorrow morning.
 
Senior TJ Ward scored each of the Hawks' two runs on the afternoon, putting together a 2-for-4 outing, which included his first triple of the season. Sophomore Nathan Florence had an impressive outing on the hill for Hartford, scattering just four hits and recording five strikeouts in 5.2 shutout innings.  


 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• A leadoff single off the bat of Ward in the home half of the second led to Hartford taking an early lead against Stony Brook. Freshman Drew DeMartino ripped a two-out RBI single through the right side to bring in Ward to make it a 1-0 advantage.
• Stony Brook threatened in the fifth inning, loading the bases with two outs. But Florence prevented any runs from reaching the scoreboard, as he earned the final out on a pop fly to first base to preserve the Hawks' shutout. 
• A mirror image to the fifth, the Seawolves again loaded the bases up with two outs recorded in the sixth. Taking over the pitching duties for Hartford, sophomore Drew Farkas struck out Stony Brook right fielder Michael Wilson to again keep the Seawolves off the scoreboard.
• A two-out rally allowed the Hawks to double their lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth. Ward got the rally going, lacing a triple down the left field line before sophomore Jackson Olson drove in the insurance run on a double down the left field line.  
• Senior Seth Pinkerton came out of the pen for two scoreless innings, surrendering just one hit during that frame to help the Hawks clinch the 2-0 decision.

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• The Hawks picked up their first win in the America East Tournament since defeating Stony Brook, 7-6 (10 innings), in 2016.
• The victory marked the fourth shutout for the Hawks this season.
• Pinkerton extended both the program single-season and career saves records to 11 and 14, respectively.

 
NEXT ON TAP:
The Hawks continue the #AEChamps tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. against the winner of UAlbany and UMass Lowell later today.