Sports

Stony Brook stunned by Florida State, Cinderella run comes to end

OMAHA, Neb. – The world will have to wait.

The only people the Stony Brook Seawolves shocked at the College World Series were themselves.

Carrying an unimaginable amount of confidence from their Super Regional triumph at LSU, the loveable Long Islanders were dominated for the second straight game by a perennial power and saw their remarkable season end yesterday with a 12-2 loss to No. 1 seed Florida State at TD Ameritrade Park.

As only the second No. 4 seed to ever reach the College World Series, the Seawolves became the first team ousted from the tournament, unable to repeat the magic of their previous five elimination games. It was the first time Stony Brook (52-15) had lost consecutive games since March 25, having won 28 of 30 games before Friday’s 9-1 loss to No. 1 seed UCLA.

The Suffolk County school began better than the five-run frame of Friday’s first inning, but the Seawolves essentially booked their return flight after a third-inning error unraveled into six runs for the Seminoles.

Trailing 1-0 with two outs in the third inning, Stony Brook starter Brandon 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 made a walk in the park look like a climb up Mount Everest.

With plenty of time to throw, Peragine double-clutched before throwing a ball in the dirt that first baseman Kevin Courtney was unable to scoop it, allowing two runners to score as the ball rolled towards the dugout and Florida State took a 4-0 lead. It was Peragine’s fifth error in the past seven games.

The papercut soon exploded into a hemorrhage after McNitt walked Stephen McGee and followed it by serving up a three-run homer to Justin Gonzalez, his ninth of the season.

McNitt, who had been masterful in allowing three hits and no earned runs over seven innings in Game 1 at LSU, then gave up a two-out, two-run bomb to Travis one inning later, extending the Seminoles (49-16) lead to 9-0. It was the fifth home run allowed by McNitt (8-4) this season, but the fourth in the past three games.

Reliever James Campbell immediately entered, ending the sophomore’s shortest outing of the season, having pitched 3-2/3 innings, allowing nine runs (four earned), six hits and three walks, while striking out two.

The Seawolves completed their troubling trifecta of poor pitching and defense with a second straight game of uncharacteristic at-bats. Entering the game with the third-highest batting average in the nation (.333), Stony Brook squandered several opportunities, stranding four baserunners in the first three innings and seven for the game.

Seminoles starter Mike Compton (12-2) never gave much reason for the majority of the 25,000 fans to get excited, as the freshman righthander allowed two runs and six hits over six innings, striking out four.

The Seawolves scored their only runs in the fifth inning, started with a leadoff double by Courtney. First-round pick Travis Jankowski followed with a single, his first hit of the College World Series, before a Pat Cantwell RBI groundout. Third baseman Willie Carmona, who went 2-for-4 with a ground-rule double, then brought Jankowski home with a single to right, cutting the lead to 9-2.

Florida State would smash the final glass slipper minutes later, after back-to-back doubles from Johnson and Travis brought in three more runs in the sixth inning.

howard.kussoy@nypost.com