Allaire Has Nine Hits, Two Homers and Nine RBI as Baseball Takes Two From FDU

Senior Sean Allaire finished the doubleheader on Sunday with nine hits, two homers and nine combined runs batted in as the Central Connecticut State University baseball team took a pair of games at Fairleigh Dickinson on Sunday, 11-9 and 21-4. Allaire had a home run and four RBI while almost hitting for the cycle in the first game. He followed that up with five hits and five more RBI in the game tow victory. Central returns to action on Tuesday at Rhode Island beginning at 3:30 p.m.

Central trailed 6-0 after the first three inning, as the Knights scored one in the first, one in the second and four in the third inning. The Blue Devils answered with a four-run fourth inning to cut the lead to 6-4. Sophomore Mitch Wells drove in two with a double and Allaire drove in two more with a triple in the inning for Central.

FDU answered with another run in the fourth and one in the fifth to up its lead to 8-4. Central answered in the sixth, taking the lead for the first time in the game with a five-run inning.

Allaire and Wells each hit home runs in the inning as Central sent 10 men to the plate. Wells hit a solo shot to score the first run of the inning, and Allaire blasted a two-run shot scoring classmate Richie Tri. Senior Tommy Meade and junior Sean Miller-Jones each added an RBI in the frame as Central took the 9-8 lead.

FDU answered with a single run in the bottom of the inning to tie the game at 9-9. The Blue Devils would plate two in the seventh to earn the 11-9 win. Senior Anthony Scialdone and junior Pat Epps drove in runs for the Blue Devils to earn the win.

Sophomore Roy Natoli picked up his first win on the mound for the Blue Devils pitching the final 1.1 innings and allowing no hits while striking out one.

Allaire finished a single short of the cycle and had four hits in the game. He had a pair of doubles, a triple and his first home run of the season while driving in four runs. Scialdone finished the game with three hits while Wells had two hits, including his first home run of the season, and three RBI.

The Blue Devils exploded offensively in the second game for the 21-4 victory, completing the sweep of the doubleheader. They scored in all but two innings in the game and posted season-highs in runs, 21, and hits, 22, in the game. Nine different players drove in a run, led by five by Allaire and four from Miller-Jones.

A Miller-Jones grand slam in the ninth inning, in his only at-bat of the game, capped the scoring for Central. They also scored one in the first, three in the second, four in the third, one in the fourth and three in the fifth. Their best inning came in seventh when they scored five runs on four hits.

Scialdone and Meade each drove in three runs in game two, including Meade's team-best third home run of the season. Andy Lalli also homered in the game for the Blue Devils, giving them four in the win.

Meade earned the win on the mound for the Blue Devils, his first of the season. He pitched six innings allowing five hits and two runs while striking out five.

The Blue Devils return to action on the road on Tuesday at Rhode Island for a single game beginning at 3:30 p.m. They open the home portion of their NEC schedule on Thursday against Monmouth. Central and the Hawks will play a single game on Thursday at 3 p.m., a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 1 p.m. and a single game on Saturday also at 1 p.m.