For the first time in school history, the Hartford Hawks claimed the America East baseball championship with a 9-4 win over Stony Brook Saturday afternoon at Manahey Diamond in Orono. Hartford now moves into the NCAA baseball tournament to represent America East.
Zachary Ardito led the Hartford attack with three hits and four RBI, and also scored a pair of runs. The Hawks broke a 2-0 game open with five runs on five hits all with two outs in the seventh, highlighted by a Ardito two run double to make it 7-0. Brandon Janofsky had an RBI triple in the eighth for the Seawolves, and Sean Buckhout had a sacrifice fly RBI. The other runs came on a two run ninth inning homer by Michael Wilson. Stony Brook finishes up with a record of 32-25. Wilson had three hits. Drew Demartino also had three hits for the Hawks, while Ashton Bardzell and TJ Ward had two a piece.
Billy Devito (1-4) pitched a career high seven innings to help the Hawks to the win, allowing two runs, five hits, with four K’s. Greg Marino (7-2) was tagged in the loss for the Seawolves, allowing just one earned run, seven hits, with three K’s in five innings. Hartford went a perfect 3-0 in the tournament, while Stony Brook went 3-2 and would of needed two wins over the Hawks Saturday to take the title.
Hartford (26-29) will find out their NCAA fate on Monday when their location and opponent is announced at 12 noon to be shown live on ESPN U.
