CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- Stony Brook junior third baseman William Carmona (Hempstead, N.Y./Hempstead) and senior pitcher Tyler Johnson (Chatsworth, Calif./Crespi Carmelite) take home the America East Player and Pitcher of the Week nods. University of Maine outfielder Sam Balzano reels in the Rookie of the Week award to complete the weekly honors.
The reigning America East Player of the Year hit .318 at Minnesota’s Dairy Queen Classic at the Metrodome last weekend, with five of his seven hits going for extra bases. Carmona also finished the week with an .818 slugging percentage, five runs, six RBIs and three walks.
Carmona hit three home runs last week, including two home runs in Sunday’s win over Minnesota. His solo shot to lead off the seventh broke a 4-4 tie for good. He also pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn the save. Carmona’s other home run, a three-run shot, came in the Seawolves’ midweek victory over Fairleigh Dickinson. The junior also went 2-for-4 in Saturday’s game against Minnesota and hit a double in each of Friday’s games against Kansas.
Johnson pitched an eight-inning gem in the Seawolves’ 4-0 victory over Kansas in Friday’s opening game of the Dairy Queen Classic. Johnson allowed just three hits without giving up a run, walked one and struck out seven. He picked up the win, his 25th career victory, which ties him for the most victories in program history. In a league-high 22.0 innings pitched so far this season, Johnson has recorded a 0.82 ERA.
Balzano only had ten plate appearances over three games for the Black Bears last week, but made the best of those chances with four hits, three RBIs and two walks. The rookie hit .571 on the week with a .667 on base percentage. Balzano drove in a run each in wins over Western Michigan and Bowling Green and a loss to Fairfield. He also went 2-for-2 on stolen base attempts.
Team Notebooks:
Albany (4-7, 0-0 AE) went 4-1 on the week, defeating Fordham in a mid-week game, before going 3-1 at NYIT in a four-game series over the weekend... Freshman Craig Lepre (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) led the Great Danes with a .600 average, starting three games behind the plate... He finished with six hits and four RBI... Sophomore Josh Nethaway (Fonda, N.Y./Fonda-Fultonville) hit .474 in five games started. He recorded nine hits and scored seven runs, while driving in two more... Nethaway also went 1-for-1 on stolen base attempts and did not commit an error in four games at first base... Albany got five home runs last week, including four in Sunday’s first game at NYIT... Seniors Mike Tirri (Lake George, N.Y./Lake George) and Pete DiResta (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) led the team with four and five extra-base hits, respectively... Tirri scored five runs and drove in five more with three doubles and a home run, while DiResta totaled four doubles and a homer, scoring five times and recording five RBI... Senior Sean Lucas (Fishkill, N.Y./Beacon/Virginia) struck out nine opposing batters in a winning effort against NYIT... Reliever Greg Lutton (New Haven, Vt./Mt. Abraham/Vermont) earned a win in relief, going 4.1 innings with two strikeouts... Albany will continue non-conference play with a mid-week tilt at Central Connecticut State on Wednesday before facing off against St. John’s and Holy Cross at the Red Storm Baseball Tournament over the weekend.
Binghamton (0-6, 0-0 AE) dropped three games at No. 4 Arkansas over the weekend, losing 4-0, 5-3 and 6-0. The Razorbacks, picked to win the SEC Western Division, belted seven home runs in the series - five solo shots and back-to-back homers on two different occasions... Binghamton was within two runs in the seventh inning of game one and brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning of the finale... Senior righty Mike Augliera (Old Bridge, N.J./Old Bridge) produced a second-straight strong outing with six innings of two-run pitching against the high-ranking Hogs. Augliera (0-2) scattered four hits, struck out four and walked one. His season ERA after 12 innings of work is 2.25... Junior Jake Lambert (La Jolla, Calif./La Jolla) also went six innings in game two, allowing three runs. The Bearcats were tied 3-3 in the fifth inning and then down 5-3 in the ninth, but had the tying run in the box... Freshman left fielder Zach Blanden (Homer, N.Y./Homer) led the offense with a .375 average in the three games (3-for-8). Freshman catcher Jake Thomas (Merrick/Calhoun) drove in two runs and leads the team with four RBI in six games... Sophomore reliever Jack Rogalla (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park River Forest) pitched 3.2 hitless innings in game 2 of the series. Rogalla kept the Razorbacks off the board to give Binghamton a chance to rally... The Bearcats return north to play three games in the Big 5 Baseball Bash this weekend. The team will play single games at St. Joseph’s, Villanova and Temple.
The Hawks (1-10, 0-0 AE) finished a five game week with a 1-4 overall record after opening the week with the first victory in 2012, a 5-2 win over in-state rival Central Connecticut on Wednesday afternoon... Sophomore Ryan Lukach (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) picked up the victory for the Hawks pitching five innings and not allowing a run despite four hits... At the plate, senior Chris Suchy (West Springfield, Mass./Westminster School) led the Hawks with a 2-for-4 effort, including a two run home run that provided what turned out to be the game-winning run... Despite behing swept by the Wildcats, the Hawks relief pitching showed signs of improvement with sophomore reliever Brian Hunter (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) making two appearances without allowing a hit or run and striking out for batters... Among the starters, Alex Gouin put up the best numbers for the Hawks pitching five innings in the series opener allowing three runs, one earned, on five hits and striking out three batters... At the plate, Brian Estevez (Riveredge, N.J./St. Joseph Regional) led the team with six hits, while Hunter finished with five including three extra base hits, a double, a triple and a solo home run in the series opener on Friday... The Hawks will play a four game schedule in the week ahead beginnnig with a visit from the UMass Minutemen on Tuesday afternoon at Fiondella Field. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
The University of Maine baseball team (5-8, 0-0 AE) went 2-3 on the week in Florida... Maine lost a heartbreaker on Tuesday when it fell to #19 Stetson 3-2... The Hatters scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning on a balk... Maine rebounded to score 13 runs the following day... Luke Morrill (South Thomaston, Maine) picked up his first career win in the game... Sophomore Shaun Coughlin (Northford, Conn.) pitched a complete game gem against Bowling Green on Saturday... He went the distance and allowed one run on six hits... He struck out seven batters without allowing a walk... Rookie Sam Balzano (Portland, Maine) leads the Black Bears in stolen bases with four... Justin Leisenheimer (Middle Village, N.Y.) belted Maine’s second home run of the season on Wednesday against Western Michigan.... Maine will play in the Seton Hall Strike Out Tournament in South Orange, N.J.) this weekend.
After losing to in-state rival Towson midweek, UMBC (2-9, 0-0 AE) took one of three from Navy over the weekend… The Retrievers won their only home game of the week at the Baseball Factory Field, taking a 15-6 decision over Navy on Friday… Six Retrievers picked up multi-hit games against the Midshipmen in the win… Freshman Jake Barnes (Annandale, Va./Annandale) led the way going 3-for-4 at the plate with a double and three RBI… Senior Max Himmelstein (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) also recorded three hits, scoring three times to going along with one RBI… Seniors Luke DiBlasi (Pleasant Valley, N.Y./Arlington) and Josh Dick (Winchester, Va./James Wood) combined to throw five innings of one-hit, shutout ball to allow UMBC to get back in the lead and then preserve the win... Himmelstein leads UMBC with three homeruns this year while Barnes has a team-high six RBI… Freshman Gavin Gibbons (Vienna, Va./James Madison HS) leads the club with seven strikeouts in 6.1 innings pitched… The Retrievers return home to host Buffalo on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m… UMBC then makes the short trip to local rival Coppin State for a three-game series this weekend.
The Seawolves (7-5, 0-0 AE) went 3-2 on the week, defeating Fairleigh Dickinson on Wednesday before splitting four games at the Dairy Queen Classic over the weekend... Senior Tyler Johnson (Chatsworth, Calif.) threw 8.0 shutout innings to pick up the victory in the Seawolves 4-0 victory over Minnesota on Friday... Johnson allowed just three hits, walked one and struck out seven... It was the 25th career victory for Johnson, tying him with Jon Lewis ‘05 for the most wins in program history... The Seawolves then lost to Kansas 3-1 in 14 innings in the nightcap on Friday... Sophomore Brandon McNitt (Chino Hills, Calif.) allowed just one unearned run in 7.0 innings and sophomore Frankie Vanderka (Levittown, N.Y.) threw 6.0 innings of scoreless relief... SBU then fell 7-1 to host Minnesota on Saturday before knocking off the Golden Gophers 5-4 in the finale of the Dairy Queen Classic on Sunday... Junior William Carmona (Hempstead, N.Y.) hit two home runs including one to lead off the seventh that broke a 4-4 tie... He then pitched a scoreless ninth to earn the save ... After playing their first 12 games on the road, the Seawolves open their home schedule on Wednesday against Iona.