May 30, 2008

Tempe, Ariz. - The No. 4 Stony Brook University baseball team will make its second NCAA Tournament appearance in five years on Friday night, taking on the No. 1 Arizona State Sun Devils in the opening game of the Tempe Regional at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark. First pitch is set for 10 EST. The game can be heard at www.goseawolves.org and 90.1 WUSB. Fans can also follow the game via gametracker at www.goseawolves.org.

Seawolves Path To The Tournament: Stony Brook went 31-24 during the 2008 regular season, its second straight season with 31 regular season victories. The Seawolves went 14-10 during conference play to earn the No. 2 seed in last week's four-team, double-elimination America East Tournament. SBU defeated No. 3 UMBC, 4-3, on Thursday in the tournament opener before defeating top-seeded Binghamton 1-0 on Friday to advance to the Championship game. The Seawolves then defeated Binghamton again on Saturday, 6-0, to clinch the America East title and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Seawolves 34 victories are its most since the 2002 season when they recorded 35 wins as well as the third most in the school history.

Seawolves vs. 2008 Tempe Regional/NCAA Tournament Field: The Seawolves have not played any of the teams in this year's Tempe Regional but did play three teams in this year's NCAA Tournament Field. The Seawolves were swept in a three-game series at Charlotte and in a doubleheader against Virginia before defeating James Madison, 16-3.

NCAA Tournament History: Stony Brook's other Division I NCAA Tournament appearance came in 2004 when it was sent to the Kingston Regional. The Seawolves fell, 8-2, to host East Carolina in the opener and were then eliminated by Tennessee, 1-0.

Division I History: SBU is in its ninth season of Division I baseball after making the move from Division II in 1999. The Seawolves have compiled a 267-204 record including five 30-win seasons in their nine years at the D-I level.

Pitching Carries Seawolves In America East Tournament: The Stony Brook pitching staff was terrific in the Seawolves three America East Tournament victories. The Seawolves allowed just three runs over the three games as senior Gary Novakowski (Propsect, Conn.) hurled a complete game shutout in the 1-0 victory over Binghamton on Friday and junior Mike Errigo (Bayside, N.Y.) followed that up with a complete game shutout of his own in SBU's 6-0 championship game victory over Binghamton. Entering the match-up with ASU the Seawolves hurlers have hurled 19.0 straight scoreless innings.

Climbing the Charts: Senior starter Tom Koehler (New Rochelle, N.Y.) has anchored the Seawolves starting rotation this season as he set career-highs in wins (seven), innings pitched (90.0), strike outs (107) and ERA (3.70) while being named to the All-America East second team for the second time in his career. His 107 strike outs is the third most in a single season in Seawolves history and his 286 career strike outs rank third on the career list. His 290.0 career innings pitched also rank second in the program's history. Koehler switched to the number 55 this year after wearing the number 22 for the first three seasons of his career. He switched after Joe Nathan had his number 22 retired when he entered the Stony Brook Athletics Hall of Fame last December.

Catching Fire: Junior outfielder Steven Mazzurco (Selden, N.Y.) has caught fire with the bat since the beginning of conference play. He hit a team-high .364 during America East games and he currently lead the Seawolves in batting average (.368), hits (67) and is tied for the squad lead with 15 doubles. He capped off his late-season hot streak by earning Most Outstanding Player honors at last week's America East Tournament as he hit .455 and scored the winning run in SBU's 1-0 victory over Binghamton on Friday.

Leading the Way: Junior centerfielder Brian Witkowski (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) has been terrific in the leadoff spot for the Seawolves this season. A first-team All-conference selection, Witkowski leads the Seawolves in six offensive categories including doubles (15), triples (three) and runs scored (55). He also ranks second on the team in batting average (.348), home runs (nine) and hits (65).

2008 Tempe Regional Schedule (All times Pacific)

Friday, May 30:

2 p.m.- #3 Oklahoma (34-24-1) vs. #2 Vanderbilt (40-20) (Game One)

7 p.m.- #4 Stony Brook (34-24) vs. #1 Arizona State (45-11) (Game Two)

Saturday, May 31:

2 p.m.- Loser of Game One vs. Loser of Game Two (Loser Eliminated) (Game Three)

7 p.m.- Winner of Game One vs. Winner of Game Two (Game Four

Sunday, June 1:

1 p.m.- Winner of Game Three vs. Loser of Game Four (Game Five)

6 p.m.- Winner of Game Five vs. Winner of Game Four (Game Six)

Monday, June 2 (if necessary)

6 p.m.- Repeat of Game Six