Stony Brook falls to Binghamton, 8-7, in 12 innings in America East title game

No one can argue that Cameron Stone failed to leave it all on the mound.

The 2014 America East rookie of the year threw 114 pitches in 51/3 innings of relief for Stony Brook in Sunday's America East Championship final.

But Stone allowed a game-winning single by Eddie Posavec with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the 12th inning as Binghamton won the conference title for the second straight year with an 8-7 victory over the Seawolves.

"I thought that, considering this was Cameron's longest stint of the year, he did an amazing job," said Stony Brook coach Matt Senk, whose team lost to Binghamton, 4-3, on Saturday night, leaving each team with one loss in the double-elimination tournament. "He was an absolute bulldog. He was willing to do whatever we were asking and the team was needing of him. I think that all things considered, he gave us our best opportunity to win."

Top-seeded Stony Brook went 18-5 in conference play during the regular season to fourth-seeded Binghamton's 11-12. Reed Gamache had five hits and Shaun McGraw added four as Binghamton outhit Stony Brook 21-13 in the conference's first extra-inning final since 2005.

Vying for their third NCAA Tournament berth in five seasons, the Seawolves (35-18) came back from a 4-1 deficit and brought a 7-4 lead into the bottom of the seventh, but Gamache's two-out, two-run single in the eighth tied it at 7-7 for Binghamton (25-25).

Stone consistently came up clutch for Stony Brook, stranding runners in scoring position in five consecutive innings. But with the bases loaded, one out and the Stony Brook outfield playing shallow in the bottom of the 12th, Posavec hit a drive to left-center that bounced on one hop to the warning track to send the Bearcats back to the NCAA Tournament.

"I felt pretty good going into the game," Stone said. "[It was] long, but a big game like this, there is nothing you can do about that. You just have to go out there and compete and do the best that you could. Unfortunately, today we didn't end up the winner."

Stony Brook trailed 4-1 after two innings but made a run behind the relief efforts of sophomore Tim Knesnik (four innings, one run).

America East player of the year Kevin Krause (3-for-5) scored on a two-out error in the fourth and singled home a run in the fifth. Johnny Caputo doubled with two outs in the sixth and scored the tying run on Josh Mason's single. Mason, Kevin Courtney and Jack Parenty each had two hits for Stony Brook.