Baseball Drops NEC Opener to SHU, 3-2
Blue Devils will play FDU in an elimination game Friday at 12 p.m.
The Central Connecticut baseball team dropped a 3-2 decision to Sacred Heart in the its first game in the 2012 Northeast Conference baseball tournament. The third-seeded Blue Devils will face fourth-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson in an elimination game on Friday at 12 p.m.
HIGHLIGHTS (Pack Network)
The Blue Devils put a pair of runners on in the first inning but a pair of strikeouts ended the threat. Sacred Heart took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning on a sacrifice fly from John Murphy.
Central tied it up in the top of the fourth. Junior Tyler McIntyre singled to lead off the inning and went to third on a single from sophomore Dylan DelaCruz, followed by a fielding error. He scored on an RBI groundout from classmate Anthony Turgeon.
In the bottom of the inning, the Pioneers put runners on first and third with no outs. A hard liner back to Central starter Harry Glynne was caught, and he fired to first to record the double play. The next batter popped up and the Blue Devils got out of the inning without allowing a run.
Sacred Heart threatened to score the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fifth, but sophomore J.P. Sportman threw out the runner at the plate to end the inning.
The Pioneers returned the favor in the top of the sixth, ending the inning by throwing out Sportman at the plate. He had doubled to lead off the inning, and was trying to score on a single from Turgeon.
Sacred Heart took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. An unearned run scored on a sacrifice fly, following a fielding error by the Blue Devils. A second run scored on a double to left field from Dan Perez.
Central scored one in the ninth on a solo home run from DelaCruz, but were unable to bring home the tying run.
Glynne picked up the loss, dropping to 3-4 on the season. He pitched 6.1 innings and allowed just one earned run, and seven hits. He struck out four and walked two.
Sportman and DelaCruz each had two hits. DelaCruz and Turgeon had an RBI in the loss.
With the loss the Blue Devils are now 28-23 on the season.