10  Matt Senk Last College: Cortland '80 Position: Head Coach

Matt Senk enters his 22nd season as the Stony Brook University head baseball coach, having entrenched the Seawolves as one of the top programs in not only the America East but also the Northeast Region.

Last season, Senk guided the Seawolves to a school record 42 wins and its first America East regular season title. Senk was rewarded for the Seawolves success as he was named America East Coach of the Year.

The Seawolves were ranked as high as 30th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll and were third in the country in winning percentage. Stony Brook finished the season with the top fielding percentage in the country (.985) and ranked second in the nation with 146 doubles.

Senk's players were also rewarded for the Seawolves record-breaking season, as 11 players were named All-Conference including eight to the first team. Willie Carmona became the first player in program history to be named a first team All-American in addition to being selected the America East Player of the Year.

In addition, freshman Brandon McNitt was named Rookie of the Year in the America East, the second straight year a Stony Brook player earned that honor. McNitt also was selected to the Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American team.

Junior Nick Tropeano earned second team All-American honors and became the first player in America East history to be named Pitcher of the Year twice. Tropeano was then selected in the fifth round of the 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Houston Astros.

Senk has shown he can get players to the next level as he has had 35 players sign professional contracts in his tenure including 25 since the program went Division I. He also has had 14 players picked in the MLB Draft.

Individually, the Seawolves have been handsomely rewarded for their outstanding efforts under Senk's guidance. During his tenure at Stony Brook, he has had 95 players named all-conference, 36 players named all-region and five players named All-American.

Topping the list of Stony Brook alums is Joe Nathan, a three-time American League All-Star with the Minnesota Twins. Nathan has a career record of 44-20, posting a 2.82 ERA while collecting 200 saves.

Nathan was initially drafted by the San Francisco Giants in 1995 and broke into the Major Leagues in 1999. After posting exceptional numbers with the Giants in 2003, recording a 12-4 mark with a 2.96 ERA, he was dealt to the Twins where he blossomed into one of the most dominant closers in Major League Baseball.

A two-time Academic All-American at SBU, Nathan was also inducted into the Stony Brook Athletics Hall of Fame in December 2006, when he also became the first former Stony Brook student-athlete to have his jersey number retired. In August 2008, Nathan made a $500,000 lead gift to the Stony Brook Department of Athletics in support of the construction of a new baseball field at Stony Brook University which was opened as Joe Nathan Field in May 2011.

Tom Koehler was drafted in 18th round of the 2008 MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Florida Marlins. Koehler has excelled in the Marlins farm system as he opened the 2011 season in AAA and was named the Southern League's Most Outstanding Pitcher in 2010. Pitching for the Jacksonville Suns, the Double-A affiliate of the Marlins, Koehler won 16 games to equal the Jacksonville franchise single-season wins mark.

In 2010, he led SBU to their second America East title in three years as well as the program's first NCAA Division I tournament win; a 6-2 victory over North Carolina State at the Myrtle Beach Regional. In the season-opener the Seawolves defeated Akron to make Senk the first coach in program history and the third in America East history to win 500 games.

Stony Brook was rewarded for its stellar play with a slew of postseason awards. Tropeano was named America East Co-Pitcher of the Year while Carmona was named the conference's Rookie of the Year.

Carmona and Tropeano were two of a program record 11 Seawolves that were named to the all-conference teams. In addition to being the only freshman selected to the conference's first team, Carmona was also named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American as well as a third team Freshman All-American by Ping!Baseball.

SBU also showed it could play and beat the best teams in the nation in 2009 as the Seawolves went down to Charlottesville, Va. and defeated the No. 11 Virginia Cavaliers, 6-2. It was Stony Brook's first win over a ranked opponent since jumping to Division I in 2000.

In 2008, Senk guided Stony Brook to the America East title as the Seawolves recorded their most victories (34) since the 2001 season. The all-time wins leader in Stony Brook baseball history, Senk has led SBU to 17 winning seasons and has won 30 or more games nine times.

The Stony Brook baseball team fell one game shy of its second America East title in three years in 2006. In addition, six players signed professional contracts following the season, as Nick Abel signed with the Mets, Kris Bakey with the Cardinals, Andres Perez with the Yankees and Matt Restivo, Jon Pasieka and Tom Pennino all signed independent league contracts.

In 2005, seniors Andrew Larsen, Jon Lewis and Matt Devins were all selected in the MLB draft. Larsen was picked by the Royals in the 13th round with the 382nd overall pick. Lewis was selected three rounds later with the 486th overall pick by the Florida Marlins, while Devins went in the 34th round where he was drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Stony Brook achieved its ultimate goal of an America East title and an NCAA bid in 2004 after qualifying for the postseason in each of its three previous seasons. Senk turned in one of his finest coaching performances, pulling his team together to peak at the end of an up and down season. After a 1-5 start in conference play, Senk was able to go 10-5 down the stretch to earn the fourth and final spot at the America East Championship. The Seawolves came into the tournament with the No. 4 seed, but were the cream of the crop, sweeping through the field in three straight games to earn the America East crown.

Success is nothing new for Senk. He posted a tremendous 35-16 mark in 2001 in just the second season Stony Brook competed at the Division I level. Senk led the Seawolves to landmark victories over Winthrop and crosstown rival St. John's and a 10-0 mark in New York State Conference Baseball play. Following the year, Alex Trezza became the University's first Division I All-American and Chris Flinn was drafted in the third round of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft - the highest round a Stony Brook player has ever been drafted.

Senk's teams are traditionally some of the best hitting in the country, as evidenced during the 2000 season when the Seawolves were plastered all over the final national statistics. Senk coached the Seawolves to the nation's team batting and slugging titles, hitting .347 and slugging .580, respectively.

Averaging 1.78 home runs per game, the team finished second nationally in the category, while its 9.37 runs per outing was fifth best in the country. SBU's 2.56 doubles per game were the sixth-best total in Division I. Altogether, Stony Brook put together one of its finest performances from the plate in the school's history en route to a 30-11 mark and the 11th best winning percentage in the nation.

Prior to Stony Brook's jump to Division I in 2000, Senk enjoyed unmatched success at the Division II level. In 1999, Senk guided the Seawolves to a school-record 36 wins and the program's first outright ECAC championship.

In 1998, Senk led the Seawolves to a 23-11-1 mark, a 16-game turnaround from the previous season, and was named Stony Brook's Men's Coach of the Year for the fourth time in the 1990's. In addition, the team earned the Stony Brook Men's "Quantum Leap" award for the biggest improvement from the previous season.

One of Senk's proteges, Craig Ansman, appeared in his third minor league all-star game for the Arizona Diamondbacks organization in 2004, taking the field as the starting catcher for the Pacific Coast League at the triple-A mid-summer classic. While at Stony Brook, he earned New England Collegiate Conference Player of the Year accolades and became the Seawolves' first ever All-American in 1999.

Academically, over 90 percent of Senk's players have graduated and moved into successful careers or graduate school. Nathan also earned academic All-American honors twice under Senk's tutelage.

Prior to accepting the coaching position at Stony Brook, Senk spent three years as head coach at Kellenberg Memorial High School where his teams were successful in capturing league and division championships. Before coaching at Kellenberg, Senk was the head coach at St. Agnes Cathedral High School, guiding his team to a division championship and being awarded Nassau-Suffolk Catholic High School Athletic Association Coach of the Year.

Senk is a graduate of Cortland State where he earned his Bachelor's degree in psychology in 1980. While at Cortland, Senk was the Red Dragon's starting catcher for three seasons, a two-time All-SUNYAC selection and the team's Most Valuable Player as a senior. Senk later earned his master's degree in physical education from Adelphi University and is a member of the American Baseball Coaches Association.