No. 1 Hartford, No. 4 Stony Brook to Play for #AEBASE Championship
Orono, Maine – Late-inning drama highlighted Friday’s action at Mahaney Diamond as No. 1 Hartford and No. 4 Stony Brook clinched a date in the championship round. The top-seeded Hawks advanced to the championship game in thrilling fashion as Drew DeMartino hit a walk-off single in the ninth to secure the program’s first ever appearance in the #AEBASE championship game.
The Seawolves followed with back-to-back wins behind seven total RBI from sophomore Chris Hamilton, who hit a game-winning home run in the eighth inning of Game 9 to break a tie with UMass Lowell. The Seawolves will make their first appearance in the final round since playing in three straight from 2014-2016.
No. 1 Hartford 4, No. 2 UMass Lowell 3
Freshman Drew DeMartino was the hero as the Hawks completed a comeback win to clinch their spot in the championship game. The Hawks loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth with the game tied 3-3 and DeMartino sent a two-strike pitch down the third base line to score TJ Ward and end the ballgame. The game was tied at 1-1 entering the sixth when UMass Lowell scored a pair of runs on an infield single by Cam Climo when Jackson Olson made a throwing error. In the seventh, DeMartino unleashed his first career home run with a runner on base to tie the game. Rookie of the Year and Pitcher of the Year Nicholas Dombkowski pitched seven innings, striking out seven while allowing one walk. All three runs for the River Hawks were unearned.
No. 4 Stony Brook 11, No. 5 Maine 4
Stony Brook chased Trevor DeLaite in the second, tagging him for four runs before tacking on three more against Matt Geoffrion in the same inning. Maine scored three in the third, two of which came on a deep Danny Casals double with the bases loaded. The Seawolves again jumped on Maine pitching in the fourth, adding four runs to their total. Hernen Sardinas homered in the seventh but the Black Bears' scoring would end there. All nine Seawolves starters scored a run, led by first baseman Chris Hamilton who went 2-for-4 with two runs and four runs batted in. Aaron Glickstein pitched 5.2 innings to earn the win in his first career start.
No. 4 Stony Brook 6, No. 2 UMass Lowell 5
Stony Brook scored once in each of the first two innings, stringing four hits together in that span. The first run was unearned as Nick Grande scored on a throwing error by Michael Young. Grande singled to score Andruw Gazzola in the following inning. Sam Turcotte pitched efficiently early on and the Seawolves bats continued to stay hot, picking up three runs in the fourth frame. Sean Buckhout hit an RBI single to score Gazzola and Chris Hamilton shot a 2-RBI double in the gap to make it 5-0. UMass Lowell put their first run on the board courtesy of a passed ball in the bottom of the fourth. The River hawks clawed back in the fifth to tie the game. Joey Castellanos hit a two-run double as part of a four-run inning. The game remained tied until Hamilton led off the eighth inning with a game-winning solo home run to put the Seawolves ahead 6-5. First Team All-Conference relief pitcher Aaron Pinto struck out four in three innings to earn the win.
Hartford and Stony Brook will play in the title game on Saturday at 1 p.m. on ESPN+. If Stony Brook wins, there will be an additional game to follow, also on ESPN+.
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