Blue Devil Baseball Rolls to 18-1 Victory at Long Island on Friday

Junior Richie Tri had three hits and six runs batted in as the Central Connecticut baseball team rolled to an 18-1 victory on the road at Long Island on Friday afternoon. Junior Anthony Scialdone added three hits and three RBI while junior Sean Allaire and senior Casey Walko each scored four times as the Blue Devils improved to 17-12 overall and 7-5 in Northeast Conference play. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday at 12 noon.

Scialdone's three hits on the day gave him a 19-game hitting streak heading into Saturday's doubleheader. In 23 games played this season he has been held hitless in just twice. During the streak he has posted two or more hits 10 times including four of the last five games.

Junior Dan Markoya picked up his first victory in a Blue Devil uniform, and was impressive in just his second NEC start of the season. He pitched eight innings allowing just five hits and one earned run while striking out seven Blackbirds. He allowed just a single run in the first inning and in his eight innings of work he never faced more than four batters in a single inning. Only one Long Island batter reached second base against Markoya, and that was the leadoff man who doubled in the bottom of the first inning.

All but one Blue Devil in the starting lineup drove in a run, led by six by Tri and three from Scialdone. Central Connecticut scored 18 unanswered runs in the game, after falling behind 1-0 in the first inning.

The Blue Devils scored one run in the second inning and two in the third to take a 3-1 lead. Four runs in the fourth inning, one in the fifth and four more in the sixth inning opened up a 12-1 lead for the visitors. Two more runs in the eighth and four in the ninth completed the scoring.

Central Connecticut had 19 hits in the game and has now scored 56 runs in its last four games, all wins. The four-game winning streak matches the longest streak of the season for the Blue Devils, and they have all come in NEC play. In those four games CCSU has posted 65 hits including 13 for extra bases.

Five CCSU batters had at least two hits in the game and all but two starters crossed the plate. Allaire's four runs scored give him an impressive 36 runs scored in 29 games this season. He has scored a run in six straight games and is currently riding a nine-game hitting streak. Sophomore Pat Epps drove in a run in the game and has now driven in a run in four straight. Junior Tommy Meade had a hit, a run scored and an RBI and has now had four straight games with at least one hit, run scored and an RBI.

CCSU and Long Island return to the diamond with a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 12 noon on Saturday. A single nine-inning game in Sunday will complete the weekend series.