UAlbany Baseball Loses America East Tournament Opener

The UAlbany baseball team took one on the chin on Wednesday afternoon.

The 4th seeded Great Danes lost to top seeded Stony Brook in the 1st Round of the America East Conference Tournament, 14-2.

Travis Jankowski went 4-for-5 with three RBI to lead the host Seawolves.

Stony Brook put one run on the board in the bottom of the 2nd, as the Seawolves loaded the bases and then got Stephen Marino home on a sacrifice fly by Sal Intagliata.  UAlbany got a runner in scoring position for the second time, but the Great Danes were unable to capitalize.

UAlbany’s Dave Kubiak and Stony Brook’s Nick Tropeano continued their pitching duel through the 5th inning, as the Great Danes tied the game in the top of the 6th. Kyle Crean led off the frame with a double down the right field line and came home on a base hit by Mike Tirri.

Stony Brook regained the lead in the bottom of the inning, scoring two runs on a triple by Tanner Nivins that sent home Maxx Tissenbaum and Marino, putting the Seawolves on top, 3-1. Stony Brook added an additional run with an RBI single by Travis Jankowski, giving the Seawolves a 4-1 advantage with just one out in the inning. Kubiak worked his way out of trouble, getting the final out of the inning on a swinging strike.

Stony Brook then broke the game open in the bottom of the 7th win 7 runs - all with two outs. The Seawolves took advantage of a UAlbany fielding error, while Jankowski, Intagliata, Pat Cantwell and Chad Marshall all recorded RBI hits. Reliever Greg Lutton induced an infield pop out to end the inning with Stony Brook on top, 11-1.

Kubiak took the loss for the Great Danes to finish his senior season with a 6-7 record. He fanned four opposing batters in six and two thirds innings of work. Tropeano earned his 12th win of the season with 12 strikeouts over eight complete innings.

UAlbany (19-30) will take on Binghamton in the tournament’s first elimination game at 11:00am on Thursday. Stony Brook (42-10) will play in the winners bracket of the tournament at 3:00pm.