# 2012 Stony Brook Seawolves baseball team

The 2012 Stony Brook Seawolves baseball team represented Stony Brook University in the 2012 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Seawolves were coached by 22nd-year head coach Matt Senk and played their home games at Joe Nathan Field. The Seawolves clinched their second consecutive regular season championship and their fourth America East Conference baseball tournament championship, earning the league's automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Division I baseball tournament, their fourth appearance in school history.
In the NCAA tournament, the team went on to win the Coral Gables Regional. They then defeated LSU in the Baton Rouge Super Regional, becoming the first ever team from the America East Conference to advance to the College World Series, the first team from New York in thirty years, and the first team from the Northeast since 1986.

## Summary
### Regular season

Stony Brook opened their 2012 campaign with a perfect 4–0 weekend at Thibodaux, Louisiana, with pair of victories over Alabama State and Nicholls State in the Colonel Round Robin. The team then traveled to Greenville, North Carolina, to face off against East Carolina, where they were swept in three consecutive one-run games to drop their record to 4–3. They returned to the Northeast for a single game against Fairleigh Dickinson, routing the Knights at Teaneck, New Jersey. Stony Brook participated in the Dairy Queen Classic splitting the weekend against Kansas and host Minnesota, bringing their record to 7–5.
Stony Brook opened their home season on March 10 against Iona beating the Gaels 12–7. The Seawolves followed up beating the Yale Bulldogs three out of four in a weekend series and compiled a string of victories against Fordham and Columbia for their first five-win streak of the season. Stony Brook couldn't keep the pace and lost back-to-back games against Holy Cross but bounced back to win a pair of games against NYIT and victories against Marist and Fairleigh Dickinson, ending their non-conference slate at 17–8.
The Seawolves opened conference play against Binghamton, taking two of three at home. The team won two midweek non-conference games against Iona and Marist at home and then traveled to Albany for a weekend series; the Seawolves took three out of four. The team returned home to beat Rhode Island 8–2 and swept a four-game series against Hartford. Stony Brook played a pair of midweek non-conference games against Fairfield and Central Connecticut, coming out victorious on both occasions and swept a four-game series at UMBC, extending their winning streak to ten games and taking command of first place in the America East with a 34–10 overall record and 12–2 conference record.
Stony Brook took two out of three against Binghamton at home and swept a three-game series against UMBC to clinch a second consecutive regular season championship while going 21–2 at home. Stony Brook closed the regular season with a four-game sweep at conference rival Maine to win a program record 43 games. They ended the regular season with a 43–11 record, going 21–3 in the America East. The Seawolves headed into the conference tournament with the best winning percentage in Division I.

### America East tournament

Stony Brook earned a first-round bye in the America East tournament, hosted at Joe Nathan Field. Needing to win three games to earn the conference title, they defeated fourth-seeded Maine 14–6 and third-seeded Binghamton 7–4 to advance to the title game, where they met up with Maine again, defeating them 13–6 to advance to the 2012 NCAA Division I baseball tournament with a 46–11 record, the best record in Division I with an .807 winning percentage. The Seawolves were the first team in the America East since 2002 to earn both the regular season and conference tournament championships in the same season. For the first time in the history of the program, Stony Brook found itself ranked, sitting at #25 in the Baseball America poll and #29 in the NCBWA poll.

### Coral Gables Regional

Stony Brook traveled to South Florida to play in the Coral Gables Regional as the fourth seed. In the first game the Seawolves knocked off top seeded Miami (FL) by a score of 10–2. The Hurricanes had not lost a regional home opener since 1978. After losing to UCF 9–8, the Seawolves entered the loser's bracket, where they defeated Missouri State 10–7, mounting a comeback after being down four runs in the seventh inning and striking out Luke Voit with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to preserve the victory. This gave the Seawolves a spot in the regional championship, where they defeated UCF 12–5 and 10–6 in consecutive days to win the regional, advancing to face LSU in the Super Regionals.

### Baton Rouge Super Regional

In the first game of the Baton Rouge Super Regional, LSU started freshman Aaron Nola while Stony Brook started sophomore Brandon McNitt. While Nola departed with a 2–0 deficit, the Tigers came back to tie in the bottom of the ninth on a solo shot by JaCoby Jones. Stony Brook put together leads in the top of the 10th and 11th innings, but LSU tied the game both times with solo home runs. A rain delay in the 12th inning postponed the game, set to restart at 10:05 a.m. on the next day. A single by Mason Katz in the bottom of the 12th gave LSU a 5–4 walk-off victory.
In game two of the Super Regional, LSU started Kevin Gausman, who had been drafted in the top 5 of the 2012 MLB Draft a week prior. Gausman had closed out game one earlier in the day. Stony Brook's senior pitcher Tyler Johnson threw a 127-pitch complete game as the Seawolves defeated the Tigers 3–1. In the winner-take-all game three, Stony Brook jumped out to an early lead and handily won 7–2 behind sophomore pitcher Frankie Vanderka's complete game. The improbable upset sent Stony Brook to the College World Series, the first Northeast school to do so since 1986 and the first school from New York to do so since St. John's in 1980.

### College World Series

After upsetting LSU in Baton Rouge, Stony Brook took on the motto "Shock The World" to represent their unlikely run to the College World Series. Stony Brook found itself ranked #7 in NCBWA poll, their highest ranking ever, and Matt Senk was later announced to be the National Coach of Year. In the College World Series, Stony Brook suffered consecutive losses, falling 9–1 to UCLA and 12–2 to Florida State to end the Seawolves' Cinderella run. They finished the season 52–15, the most wins by any Division I team in 2012, with a program record seven drafted players.

## Schedule

2012 Stony Brook Seawolves baseball game log :
Regular season (43–11) :
February (4–0)
#DateRankOpponentSite/stadiumScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceOverall recordAEC Record
1February 24Alabama State (Colonel Round Robin)Ray E. Didier FieldW 3–2Vanderka (1–0)Estevez (0–1)None3001–0–
2February 24Nicholls State (Colonel Round Robin)Ray E. Didier FieldW 8–6McNitt (1–0)Webster (1–1)Rakkar (1)4002–0–
3February 25Alabama State (Colonel Round Robin)Ray E. Didier FieldW 6–0Stecko (1–0)Frost (0–2)None2003–0–
4February 26Nicholls State (Colonel Round Robin)Ray E. Didier FieldW 4–1Campbell (1–0)Wisecarver (0–1)Vanderka (1)3074–0– :
March (10–4)
#DateRankOpponentSite/stadiumScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceOverall recordAEC Record
5March 2East CarolinaClark–LeClair StadiumL 0–1Brandt (2–1)Johnson (0–1)Reynolds (4)22624–1–
6March 3East CarolinaClark–LeClair StadiumL 1–2Merritt (1–1)McNitt (1–1)Reynolds (5)21234–2–
7March 4East CarolinaClark–LeClair StadiumL 3–4Cotton (2–0)Stecko-Haley (1–1)Merritt (1)21384–3–
8March 7Fairleigh DickinsonNaimoli Family Baseball ComplexW 17–5Gallup (1–0)Paz (0–1)None1395–3–
9March 9Kansas (Dairy Queen Classic)H.H.H. MetrodomeW 4–0Johnson (1–1)Taylor (1–2)NoneN/A6–3–
10March 9Kansas (Dairy Queen Classic)H.H.H. MetrodomeL 1–3Kahana(2–0)Rakkar (0–1)None1106–4–
11March 10Minnesota (Dairy Queen Classic)H.H.H. MetrodomeL 1–7Oakes (4–0)Stecko-Haley (1–2)NoneN/A6–5–
12March 11Minnesota (Dairy Queen Classic)H.H.H. MetrodomeW 5–4Rakkar (1–1)Kray (0–1)Carmona (1)2507–5–
13March 14IonaJoe Nathan FieldW 12–7Brass (1–0)Leon (0–1)None2258–5–
14March 17YaleYale FieldW 2–1 $^{(F/11)}$Mason (1–0) Fortunato (0–1)None2259–5–
15March 17YaleYale FieldL 0–1Shultz (1–0)Vanderka (1–1)None2259–6–
16March 18YaleYale FieldW 13–2Stecko-Haley (2–2)Becker (0–2)None–10–6–
17March 18YaleYale FieldW 10–0Rakkar (2–1)Hickey (1–2)None24511–6–
18March 20FordhamHoulihan ParkW 11–2Gallup (2–0)Reich (0–2)None18912–6–
19March 23ColumbiaRobertson FieldW 6–5McNitt (2–1)Olson (1–3)Mason (1)–13–6–
20March 23ColumbiaRobertson FieldW 11–10Mason (2–0)Spinosa (0–4)Rakkar (2)23114–6–
21March 25Holy CrossFitton FieldL 1–3Marra (2–1)Vanderka (1–2)None12514–7–
22March 25Holy CrossFitton FieldL 3–5Colella (3–1)Rakkar (2–2)None10214–8– :
April (20–2)
#DateRankOpponentSite/stadiumScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceOverall recordAEC Record
23April 1NYITJoe Nathan FieldW 6–0Johnson (2–1) Dillabough (0–3)None–15–8–
24April 1NYITJoe Nathan FieldW 10–1Stecko-Haley (3–2) Bulva (0–2)None22516–8–
25April 4Fairleigh DickinsonJoe Nathan FieldW 9–0Tatelman (1–0)MacDonald (0–1)None12517–8–
26April 6BinghamtonJoe Nathan FieldW 2–1 $^{(F/8)}$Johnson (3–1)Augliera (2–4)None–18–81–0
27April 6BinghamtonJoe Nathan FieldW 9–2McNitt (3–1)Lynch (2–3)Vanderka (2)31019–82–0
28April 7BinghamtonJoe Nathan FieldL 2–5Lambert (2–3)Stecko-Haley (3–3)Sosa (3)20519–92–1
29April 10IonaJoe Nathan FieldW 10–3Rakkar (3–2) Nargoski (2–4)None17520–9–
30April 11MaristJoe Nathan FieldW 14–5Gallup (3–0) Zlotnick (0–2)None11521–9–
31April 14AlbanyVarsity FieldW 9–2Johnson (4–1) GrahamNone14322–93–1
32April 14AlbanyVarsity FieldW 13–3McNitt (4–1)LucasNone6623–94–1
33April 15AlbanyVarsity FieldW 6–4Campbell (2–0) KrahamMason (2)17324–95–1
34April 16AlbanyVarsity FieldL 6–7 $^{(F/10)}$24–105–2
35April 18Rhode IslandJoe Nathan FieldW 8–2Yerry (1–0)25–10–
36April 20HartfordJoe Nathan FieldW 7–5 26–106–2
37April 20HartfordJoe Nathan FieldW 6–0 27–107–2
38April 21HartfordJoe Nathan FieldW 4–0 28–108–2
39April 21HartfordJoe Nathan FieldW 9–4 29–109–2
40April 24Central ConnecticutJoe Nathan FieldW 4–3 30–10–
41April 25FairfeldAlumni Baseball DiamondW 6–4 31–10–
42April 28UMBCThe Baseball Factory Field at UMBCW 5–0 32–1010–2
43April 28UMBCThe Baseball Factory Field at UMBCW 13–6 33–1011–2
44April 29UMBCThe Baseball Factory Field at UMBCW 17–1 34–1012–2 :
May (9–1)
#DateRankOpponentSite/stadiumScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceOverall recordAEC Record
45May 5BinghamtonJoe Nathan FieldW 3–0 35–1013–2
46May 5BinghamtonJoe Nathan FieldL 1–3 35–1113–3
47May 6BinghamtonJoe Nathan FieldW 8–0 36–1114–3
48May 12UMBCJoe Nathan FieldW 6–5 37–1115–3
49May 12UMBCJoe Nathan FieldW 21–8 38–1116–3
50May 13UMBCJoe Nathan FieldW 7–6 39–1117–3
51May 18MaineMahaney DiamondW 5–1 40–1118–3
52May 18MaineMahaney DiamondW 5–4 41–1119–3
53May 19MaineMahaney DiamondW 7–2 42–1120–3
54May 19MaineMahaney DiamondW 10–9 43–1121–3 :
Postseason (9–4) :
America East Tournament (3–0)
#DateRankOpponentSite/stadiumScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceOverall recordAECT Record
55May 23(1)(4) MaineJoe Nathan FieldW 14–6 44–111–0
56May 24(1)(3) BinghamtonJoe Nathan FieldW 7–4 45–112–0
57May 25(1)(4) MaineJoe Nathan FieldW 13–6 46–113–0 :
NCAA tournament: Coral Gables Regional (4–1)
#DateRankOpponentSite/stadiumScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceOverall recordNCAAT Record
58June 1(4)(1) No. 22 Miami (FL)Alex Rodriguez ParkW 10–2Johnson (10–1)Erickson (8–6) 1,24747–111–0
59June 2(4)(2) No. 21 UCFAlex Rodriguez ParkL 8–9Matulis (7–0)McNitt (8–3)Rogers (13)1,27547–121–1
60June 3(4)(3) Missouri StateAlex Rodriguez ParkW 10–7Vanderka (2–2)Burgess (5–2)Campbell48–122–1
61June 3(4)(2) No. 21 UCFAlex Rodriguez ParkW 12–5Rakkar (6–2)Skoglund (5–3)Mason (3)92649–123–1
62June 4(4)(2) No. 21 UCFAlex Rodriguez ParkW 10–6Johnson (11–1)Adkins (3–6) 71050–124–1 :
NCAA tournament: Baton Rouge Super Regional (2–1)
#DateRankOpponentSite/stadiumScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceOverall recordNCAAT Record
63June 8–9No. 16(7) No. 1 LSUAlex Box StadiumL 4–5$^{(F/12)}$Gausman (12–1)Vanderka (2–3) 11,20750–134–2
64June 9No. 16(7) No. 1 LSUAlex Box StadiumW 3–1Johnson (12–1)Gausman (12–2) 11,46851–135–2
65June 10No. 16(7) No. 1 LSUAlex Box StadiumW 7–2Vanderka (3–3)Eades (5–3) 11,97652–136–2 :
NCAA tournament: College World Series (0–2)
#DateRankOpponentSite/stadiumScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceOverall recordCWS Record
66June 15No. 7(2) No. 4 UCLATD Ameritrade ParkL 1–9Plutko (12–3)Johnson (12–2) 21,66252–140–1
67June 17No. 7(3) No. 3 Florida StateTD Ameritrade ParkL 2–12Compton (12–2)McNitt (8–4) 22,11252–150–2 :

## Professional draftees

Stony Brook had a program-record seven players drafted by Major League Baseball teams in the First-Year Player Draft. Travis Jankowski was selected in the supplemental first round, 44th overall by San Diego, Stony Brook's first ever first-round draftee. Pat Cantwell, who was drafted previously in 2011, was drafted in the third round by the Texas Rangers. Maxx Tissenbaum (11th Round, San Diego), William Carmona (11th Round, Philadelphia), James Campbell (12th Round, Los Angeles Dodgers), Jasvir Rakkar (26th Round, Chicago), and Tyler Johnson (33rd Round, Oakland) were also drafted and all signed professional contracts with their respective teams.

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Final |
| Coaches' | — | —* | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 8 |
| Baseball America | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 25 | — | — | 7 |
| Collegiate Baseball^ | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 16 | 7 | 8 |
| NCBWA† | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 30 | — | — | 30 | 29 | 18 | 7 | 8 |
^ Collegiate Baseball ranked 40 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranked 30 teams weekly during the season. † NCBWA ranks 35 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season. * A new poll was not released for this week, so for comparison purposes, the previous week's ranking is inserted in this week's slot.
There are no Baseball America or Coaches' Polls for weeks 15 and 16, during the NCAA tournament.