LOWELL, Massachusetts — Stony Brook coach Matt Senk admitted he and his staff thought about not starting Frankie Vanderka in the Seawolves’ postseason opener.
The senior right-hander had lost his previous three starts against the the University of Maine during the last two seasons and classmate Brandon McNitt is 7-1 this season.
In the end, Vanderka got the call — and answered it.
He scattered eight hits and was backed by some clutch hitting from his teammates Thursday afternoon as top-seeded Stony Brook earned a 4-1 victory over No.4 University of Maine in the opening game of the America East Baseball Championship at LeLacheur Park.
The Seawolves (34-16) move into Friday’s 6 p.m. winners’ bracket game, while coach Steve Trimper’s Black Bears (24-28) are relegated to a 2 p.m. elimination contest against No. 3 Binghamton, a 6-1 loser to No. 2 Hartford on Thursday night.
Junior left-hander Scott Heath of Westbrook (3-2, 4.76 earned run average) gets the start for UMaine.
“We’ll fight back,” said UMaine coach Steve Trimper. “This is a very resilient team. We’ve been here before.”
Going with Vanderka wasn’t a difficult decision for Senk, even though Vanderka had lost to Black Bears ace Tommy Lawrence three straight times.
“It certainly crossed our mind in going over what we felt was the best approach to the tournament,” Senk said of possibly using McNitt.
“When it all came down to it, we just felt that this is how we’ve gone all year,” he added.
Vanderka (4-5) was not unhittable, but was able to keep UMaine hitters off-balance. He went the distance, striking out six while walking one and hitting a batter. He threw 121 pitches.
“Every time we face them, it’s a dogfight, so I knew I was going to be in for a long one tonight,” he admitted.
“I threw a couple sliders in there, but the fastball and changeup were working, just working both sides of the plate,” Vanderka added.
Lawrence (8-5), who had won six consecutive decisions, spaced nine hits while going the route. He struck out seven and hit a batter, but did not walk anyone and threw 117 pitches.
SBU, which took three of four meetings this season, went only 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position, but was efficient enough to score four times.
“Stony Brook’s a really good hitting team,” Lawrence said. “Every time I’ve faced them so far, it’s been me versus Vanderka and he finally got the better of me this time.”
The Black Bears jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Sam Balzano of Portland singled off the second-base bag, advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Colin Gay (two singles) and scored when Heath lined an opposite-field RBI single to left-center.
UMaine would not score again, despite posting a hit in each of the first seven innings. The Bears went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
“[Vanderka] was throwing three pitches for strikes, which made it tough to hit,” said Heath, who added a double. “Overall, I think we’ve just got to piece together better at-bats as a team, including myself.”
The Seawolves equalized in the bottom of the inning. Jack Parenty led off with a bouncer to the left of the mound on which Lawrence made a diving stop. However, his throw from a prone position went into the runner and the ball got away, allowing Parenty to take second.
Robert Chavarria sacrificed him to third, then Kevin Krause delivered the run with a groundout to shortstop.
The Seawolves took the lead for good in the second inning when freshman Casey Baker doubled to right-center with one out and rode home when Anthony Italiano laced a double down the line in left.
“Our guys came up with some big hits when we needed to and took advantage of some scoring opportunities,” Senk said.
SBU picked up an insurance run in the sixth. With one out, Courtney was hit by a pitch and advanced on a passed ball. One out later, freshman Baker hit an RBI pop-fly single to shallow left.
The Seawolves added a run in the eighth when Courtney and Peragine singled. Courtney took third with nobody covering in a bunt situation, then Baker grounded into a fielder’s choice to make it 4-1.
UMaine managed two baserunners each in the third and seventh innings, but both situations came with two outs. Troy Black popped out in the third, while Alex Calbick fouled out to the second baseman in the seventh.
“Unfortunately for us, we just didn’t get that big hit,” Trimper said. “We left a lot of guys on base.”