LAKE CHARLES, La. — A sixth-inning home run from the hosts proved to be the difference, as the Stony Brook baseball team saw its 4-2 lead turn into a 5-4 deficit that they were not able to overcome, dropping its Opening Day matchup on Friday night to McNeese State.
Nick DeGennaro had a phenomenal day, going five strong innings with eight strikeouts and only allowing the pair of runs to pick up where he left off last season. The preseason All-American recorded a punchout in each inning, including four in his final two frames of work.
After McNeese started the game with a run in the bottom of the first,
Derek Yalon evened the score on a single to the hot corner to even the proceedings. An inning later,
Stanton Leuthner grounded a ball to the same spot to score
Shane Paradine to make it 2-1.
The home team rallied, but again, the Seawolves had an answer, putting up two immediately in the top of the fourth.
Evan Fox's single to third gave Stony Brook the lead, then
Brett Paulsen scored Fox on an RBI single to right a batter later, but that would be the end of the visitor's scoring.
The Cowboys took the lead for good in the sixth on an opposite-field, 3-run homer that made it 5-4. In the bottom half of the seventh, a leadoff triple led to a sacrifice fly to finish the scoring at 6-4.
STATS AND NOTES
- Cole Durkan recorded a pair of Stony Brook's eight hits tonight. He had three games of two hits a season ago.
- Seven different players had a knock and four different Seawolves drove in a run tonight.
- DeGennaro finished the day with eight strikeouts and allowed two earned. It is his fifth start of two-allowed and eight or more struck out in the last two seasons.
- Seven of his last 13 starts have had eight or more punchouts.
- Idris Carter recorded his first career single with a sixth-inning liner to left.
- Fero's 2.2-inning outing was his longest since he went four against Iona on March 10, 2020. He recorded a pair of strikeouts today and five in that outing.
QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
"Anytime you lose a game, especially when taking an early lead, is disappointing. However, we can learn some important lessons from this loss, including adding on to a lead and protecting it at all costs. On the positive side, Nick's start was terrific and we competed for the entire ballgame. If we get another quality start, play hard and improve in areas that we're capable of doing then we will put ourselves in a position to even up the series tomorrow" - head coach
Matt Senk.
UP NEXT
Game two of this three-game set in Lake Charles is scheduled for 3 p.m. Eastern time tomorrow.
Josh O'Neill is slated to get the ball for Stony Brook, going up against McNeese's Ty Abraham.
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