Head coach Matt Senk (22nd year) Assistant coach Dave Lorber (2nd year) | Assistant coach Mike Marron (3rd year) | |
Conference America East Conference 2012 record 52–13 (21–3 America East) Assistant coach Joe Pennucci (6th year) | ||
The 2012 Stony Brook Seawolves baseball team represents Stony Brook University in the 2012 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Seawolves are coached by 22nd year head coach Matt Senk and play their home games at Joe Nathan Field. The Seawolves clinched their second consecutive regular season championship and their fourth America East Conference Baseball Tournament, earning the league's automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. The team went on to win the Coral Gables Regional and defeated LSU in the Baton Rouge Super Regional, becoming the first ever team from the America East Conference to advance to the College World Series, the first team from New York in thirty years, and from the Northeast since 1986.
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Summary
The 2012 season would prove to be a breakthrough for Stony Brook baseball. After going through most of the out-of-conference season unnoticed, the team gained traction by the middle of the conference season winning 10 consecutive games en route to their second consecutive regular season championship (21–3 in AE, 43–11 overall).
Stony Brook went on to win three consecutive games in the America East tournament at Joe Nathan Field to earn the program's fourth title, beating Maine 13–6 in the finals to advance to the 2012 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament with a 46–11 record, the best record in Division I. The Seawolves were the first team in the America East since 2002 to earn both the regular season and conference tournament championships in the same season. For the first time in the history of the program, Stony Brook found itself ranked, sitting at #25 in the Baseball America poll and #29 in the NCBWA poll.
Stony Brook traveled to South Florida to play in the Coral Gables Regional as the fourth seed. In the first game the Seawolves knocked off top seeded Miami and went on to the winners bracket. Following a loss to second-seeded Central Florida, Stony Brook beat Missouri State to eliminate the Bears and force a rematch against the Golden Knights. The Seawolves topped Central Florida 12–5 and 10–6 in consecutive days to win the regional and advance to face LSU in the Super Regionals.
In a rain-soaked Baton Rouge Super Regional, Stony Brook fell in the first game to the LSU Tigers in a dramatic extra-innings affair that spanned two days due to rain. The Seawolves bested LSU in game two just hours after the end of the first game to set up a series-determining game three. Stony Brook won the third game 7–2 and advanced to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. The Seawolves became the second team ever to be the fourth seed in its region and advance to the CWS. That same week, seven players from the Stony Brook baseball team were selected in the MLB Draft including first round draftee Travis Jankowski.
Along the way, Stony Brook took on the motto "Shock The World" to represent their unlikely run to the CWS. Stony Brook found itself ranked #7 in NCBWA poll, their highest ranking ever, and Matt Senk was later announced to be the National Coach of Year. The Seawolves suffered consecutive loses against UCLA and Florida State to end their run to the College World Series, finishing the season 52–13, the most wins by any Division I team in 2012 and with a program record seven drafted players.
Professional Draftees
Stony Brook had a program-record seven players drafted by Major League Baseball teams in the First-Year Player Draft. Travis Jankowski was selected in the Supplemental first-round, 44th overall by San Diego, Stony Brook's first ever first-round draftee. Pat Cantwell, who was drafted previously in 2011, was drafted in the third round by the Texas Rangers. Maxx Tissenbaum (11th Round, San Diego), William Carmona (11th Round, Philadelphia), James Campbell (12th Round, Los Angeles Dodgers), Jasvir Rakkar (26th Round, Chicago), and Tyler Johnson (33rd Round, Oakland) were also drafted and all signed professional contracts with their respective teams.
Rankings
^ Collegiate Baseball ranks 40 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season.
† NCBWA ranks 35 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season.
* New poll was not released for this week so for comparison purposes the previous week's ranking is inserted in this week's slot. There are no Baseball America or Coaches' Polls for weeks 15 and 16, during the NCAA Tournament.