And this one is in the books. Stony Brook 10, Miami 2. The number one seed took it in the shorts Friday night – at home, under the lights at A-Rod Park.
The Seawolves jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning, but the Canes tied things up with a two-run fourth. UM would never score again.
Stony Brook took a 4-2 lead in the fifth and then tacked on two in the seventh, three in the eighth and one in the ninth.
Head coach Jim Morris broke tradition and threw his ace Eric Erickson on Friday night – a rarity regarding the Canes in a home regional as a top seed, but it seems desperate times call for desperate measures. Erickson lasted five innings, giving up six hits, four runs and striking out two.
Christian Diaz entered for 1.1 innings, allowing four hits and two runs, yielding to Adam Sargent, who went 0.1 and struck out one. Vince Kossak was next, going 1.1, walking two and the lone hit he gave up – a three-run shot in the top of the right. E.J. Encinosa “closed out” the ninth, walking two, hitting one, advancing a runner on a wild pitch and giving up a run.
The Seawolves had eleven hits to the Canes eight and had zero errors to UM’s three.
Calling this the most disheartening loss of the year is an understatement. Record-wise, Stony Brook was 46-11 and and won the America East Conference, but didn’t beat a quality opponent all season until tonight. As for those eleven losses, swept at East Carolina early in the year and losses to Kansas, Minnesota, Yale, Holy Cross, Binghamton (twice) and Albany.
Miami is now in the loser’s bracket and will take on a Missouri State team with some serious pitching. The Bears lost to the Knights of Central Florida, 2-1 earlier Friday and will now looks to grind out out against a deflated Hurricanes bunch at 2pm ET on Saturday.
Should Miami win, it will face the loser of Stony Brook / Central Florida and a win there, would force the Canes to beat the winner of game four twice, if it hopes to escape its own home regional, as a top seed.
Morris is going to take some heat for this one … and it will only get worse should Missouri State prevail tomorrow afternoon. Stay tuned.