Boasting a program best 41 wins this season, Stony Brook will look to defend their America East Baseball Championship as play in the conference tournament begins late Wednesday morning.
The tournament will open with match ups that look quite familiar to the teams involved, as they are all rematches of last weekends season ending series. Regular season champion Stony Brook (41-10 overall, 22-2 America East) will face fourth seeded Albany (19-29, 11-11) at 3pm. The Seawolves swept the Great Danes in their four game series this past weekend, amassing 29 runs and holding Albany to a mere eight. America East Pitcher of the Year Nick Tropeano carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning in the series’ first game, and has a program record 11 wins this season. Tropeano heads into the conference tournament with a 1.91 ERA.
The Seawolves lineup will be hard to beat, as they placed a stunning eight players on the America East first team. Conference Player of the Year William Carmona has hit .360 this season, with 40 RBIs. The sophomore has put on a clinic against America East pitchers the past two seasons, and leads his conference in nearly every offensive category and is third in the nation with 26 doubles.
Albany will need another big weekend by Josh Nethaway if they want to make a splash in the tournament. The freshman hit .308 last weekend against Stony Brook. Sophomore Nolan Gaige, an America East second team selection, will also be called upon to lift the Great Danes. Gaige has 60 hits and a 3.19 ERA so far this season.
Wednesday’s 11am game will pit two seed Maine (29-22, 18-6) against three seed Binghamton (21-26, 13-10). Binghamton, one of the conference’s more dominant teams over the past few years, lost last weekend’s four game series against Maine, three games to one. The Black Bears are well rounded all over the field, and have their first nine game winner in four seasons with junior pitcher Keith Bilodeau. Maine has won 14 of their last 15 games, with Binghamton handing them their only loss during that span. The Bearcats may not have won their fifth consecutive regular season title, but they still have some great pitching lined up. James Giulietti and Mike Augliera were strong last weekend against Maine, with Giulietti handing Maine their first loss in 11 games. Augliera has a 1.41 ERA and has struck out 42 batters so far this season.
America East Conference Tournament Schedule from AmericaEast.com
Joe Nathan Field, Stony Brook, N.Y.
Wednesday, May 25
Game 1 – #2 Maine (home) vs. #3 Binghamton 11am
Game 2 – #1 Stony Brook (home) vs. #4 Albany 3pm
Thursday, May 26
Game 3 – Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 11am
Game 4 – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 3pm
Friday, May 27
Game 5 – Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 11am
Game 6 – Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 3pm
Saturday, May 28
Game 7 – Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6, if necessary 12pm
