SBU Sports: Baseball slugs their way to series victory with win over Niagara
Hunter Colagrande took the mound for the Seawolves, but Niagara struck first, plating four runs on four hits in the opening inning.Stony Brook wasted no time responding. Evan Goforth was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the first, followed by a walk from Paulsen. Nico Azpilcueta then launched his first home run as a Seawolf, a three-run shot to cut the deficit to 4-3.
Niagara tacked on two more runs in the top of the second, extending their lead to 6-3. After an RBI double and a run scored on a wild pitch, Rizzo entered in relief and struck out the final batter to end the inning.
Nick Solorzano got the Seawolves back on the board in the bottom of the second, doubling with one out and later scoring on a Niagara error to make it 6-4.
Rizzo settled in, tossing a perfect top of the third with two strikeouts before Stony Brook erupted for five runs in the bottom half to take a 9-6 lead. Paulsen started the rally with a ground-rule double and scored on a Matt Jackson groundout. Chanz Doughty followed with a two-run homer, and later in the inning, Solorzano added an RBI single before Matt Miceli capped the rally with an RBI triple.
After Rizzo induced an inning-ending double play in the fourth, Paulsen extended the lead with a solo home run. Rizzo continued his dominance with a 1-2-3 fifth, and Miceli added another RBI single to push the advantage to 11-6.
Stony Brook put the game out of reach with a five-run sixth inning. Paulsen crushed his second homer of the day, Johnny Pilla scored on a wild pitch, and Doughty drove in two more with an RBI single. Miceli closed the scoring with another RBI knock, giving the Seawolves a 16-6 cushion.
Rizzo finished his stellar outing in the seventh, striking out two of the final three batters to secure the 10-run victory via the mercy rule.
The team returns to action on March 11 hosting St. John’s. First pitch is set for 2 p.m., and the game will be streamed live on FloBaseball.
