Baseball Drops Opener at LIU Brooklyn

The Central Connecticut baseball team dropped a 9-1 decision on the road at LIU Brooklyn on Friday afternoon in the first game of a weekend Northeast Conference series.  The loss drops Central to 11-11 overall on the season and 5-4 in NEC action.

Central managed just six hits in the game off of LIU starter Justin Topa.  The Blackbirds had 14 hits, including three home runs, to improve to 5-18 overall and 2-3 in the NEC.

Junior J.P. Sportman drove in the only run of the game for the Blue Devils with an RBI single in the eighth inning.

LIU used a home run in the fourth and two in the seventh to score most of its runs.  A two run shot in the fourth made it 2-0.  A third run followed in the inning after a Central error.

In the seventh a three-run shot pushed the lead to 7-0, and then a two-run home run made it 9-0.

Sophomore lefty Casey Brown picked up the loss on the mound and fell to 1-3 on the season.  He pitched 5.1 innings giving up eight hits, four runs, three of them earned. 

Junior Dylan DelaCruz was the only Blue Devil with more than one hit.  He had a double and a single in the loss.

The teams will continue the weekend series on Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.