Baseball Season Comes to End with NCAA Tournament Loss on Saturday

The Central Connecticut baseball season came to an end on Saturday afternoon with a 25-5 loss to Connecticut in the second game of the NCAA Tournament in Norwich. The Blue Devils finish the 2010 season with a 33-23 overall record, marking their sixth season in the last 11 with at least 30 win. They captured their fourth Northeast Conference Championship last weekend in Bridgewater, NJ. UConn advances in the regional, and will play on Sunday against the loser of the Oregon and Florida State game on Saturday night.

The Huskies struck in the top of the first inning off of Blue Devil starter Jason Foster. With the bases loaded and two outs LJ Mazzilli singled to left field to score a pair of runs. The Huskies took advantage of three walks in the inning from Foster.

Four more runs in the second inning gave UConn a 6-0 lead. With men on second and third Pierre LePage singled to right field to drive in two. Following a sacrifice bunt, George Springer homered to center field to drive in two more.

The Blue Devils cut the lead in half in the bottom of the second inning. A run scored when senior Kyle Zarotney reached on a throwing error. Senior Anthony Scialdone doubled in two more runs to make it 6-3. The lead reached 7-3 on an RBI single from LePage in the top of the third. A two-RBI single for Zarotney in the third inning cut the lead to 7-5.

An eight-run fourth inning gave the Huskies a 15-5 lead. Mike Olt drove in four runs in the inning, including a two-run home run, the second of the game for the Huskies. Five more runs in the fifth made it 20-5. Olt his this second home run of the game, a three-run shot, in the sixth inning to make it 24-5. He had eight RBI on the day.

In the sixth inning, senior Sean Allaire singled to left field. It was the 100th hit of the season for Allaire, matching the school-record set in 2004 by former NEC Player of the Year Keith Stegbauer.

The Blue Devils end the season with a 33-23 overall record. They advanced to their fourth NCAA Tournament in the last nine years befoe dropping the first game on Friday to Florida State and then the game to the Huskies on Saturday.