OMAHA, Neb. — Stony Brook always will look back fondly on its incredible accomplishment in reaching its first College World Series, but it will also wonder what could have been.
The Seawolves trailed Florida State 1-0 in the third inning of yesterday’s 12-2 loss and sophomore starter Brandon McNitt was cruising, having retired six straight Florida State hitters.
With two outs, McNitt allowed back-to-back singles to Sherman Johnson and Devon Travis before No. 3 hitter James Ramsey scored Johnson with a double to right field. McNitt, who had not allowed a ball in the air in his first turn through the lineup, induced an apparent inning-ending ground ball from Jayce Boyd, but shortstop Cole Peragine couldn’t take advantage of all the time he had.
Peragine fielded the ball cleanly then double-clutched before throwing a ball in the dirt that first baseman Kevin Courtney was unable to scoop, allowing two runners to score as Florida State took a 4-0 lead. It was Peragine’s fifth error in the past seven games.
“When it hopped in the stands, at that moment I just thought, ‘This is the way it’s gonna go,’ ” said third baseman William Carmona. “Things are just not going our way.”
The paper cut soon exploded into a hemorrhage.
McNitt walked Stephen McGee and followed by serving up a three-run homer to Justin Gonzalez, exiting the inning having allowed six runs, just two earned.
“Mentally, it didn’t really do anything. I was still in the game,” McNitt said. “I didn’t really let it bother me, but I made a mistake and he put a good swing on it.”