Stony Brook thumped in NCAA first-round baseball game
Stony Brook starting pitcher Greg Marino throws during in Game 1 of the NCAA college baseball regional against LSU, Friday, May 31, 2019, in Baton Rouge, La. Credit: The Advocate via AP/Hilary Scheinuk
This was not the encore the Stony Brook University baseball team envisioned. The Seawolves, playing Louisiana State for the first time since they eliminated the Tigers to reach the 2012 College World Series, lost to host LSU, 17-3, in a Baton Rouge Regional first-round game Friday.
No. 13 LSU took advantage of a Seawolves pitching staff that struggled to throw strikes. They allowed seven walks and 10 hits and the Tigers scored in each of the first five innings to build a double-digit lead at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Stony Brook (31-22) — competing in the NCAA Division I baseball tournament for the first time since 2015 — will face Arizona State (37-18) on Saturday in the double-elimination tournament. Arizona State lost, 15-3, to Southern Mississippi (38-19) earlier Friday.
The Seawolves’ Chris Hamilton, who went 4-for-4, singled with one out and scored on a fielder’s choice in the first inning. But LSU scored five runs in the bottom of the inning.
Stony Brook starter Greg Marino was tagged with the loss after giving up seven runs, although only two were earned. Marino was lifted after 1 1⁄3 innings. He allowed three hits and three walks, but shoddy defense helped allow all five first-inning runs to score with two outs.
Relievers Brandon Bonnano and Jared Milch fared no better as LSU’s lead grew to 17-2 through five innings. Redshirt junior Aaron Glickstein held the Tigers hitless and struck out four in the final three shutout innings.
In 2012, the last time Stony Brook and LSU met, the Seawolves were a newcomer to the NCAA Tournament and upset the seventh-ranked Tigers in a Super Regional to qualify for the College World Series.
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
