Blue Devils Split NEC Doubleheader at Mount St. Mary's
The Blue Devils and Mountaineers are scheduled to play a doubleheader Friday at 1 p.m.
The Central Connecticut baseball team split a doubleheader to open Northeast Conference action at Mount St. Mary's on Thursday. Mount took game one, 4-3, before the Blue Devils rallied for a 4-0 shutout in game two. CCSU stands at 7-11 overall and 1-1 in NEC play, while Mount St. Mary's is 3-15 and 1-1.
Game #1 CCSU 3, Mount St. Mary's 4:
Central opened the scoring in the top of the third when junior Connor Fitzsimons led off with a single and moved to third base on an error that allowed freshman Ryan Costello to reach base. Fitzsimons came home on a double play grounder to make it 1-0.
Mount responded with three runs in the bottom of the third to take the lead. Brendan Dabagian drew a leadoff walk and moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt. A double by Jay Knight and a walk by Ryan Owens loaded the bases before a sacrifice fly by Andrew Clow tied the score and a two-run double by Kory Britton made it 3-1.
The Blue Devils tied the score up in the seventh inning with a pair of runs. Junior Ian Glassman singled and advanced to third base on a double by freshman John Lippincott. After a pitching change, Costello knocked home two runs with a single to make it 3-3.
The Mountaineers broke the tie in the bottom of the inning after Clow led off with a double and moved to third on a ground out. Zach Hostetter walked and stole second to put runners on second and third. Brian Parreira singled home Clow, but sophomore Matt Blandino relayed Lippincott's throw to nab Hostetter at the plate and leave the score at 4-3.
Jordan Lawson retired CCSU in order in the ninth and threw 2.1 shutout innings to earn the win.
Blandino went the distance for Central, allowing four runs, while striking out six.
Game #2 CCSU 4, Mount St. Mary's 0:
Senior Dominic Severino singled, stole second and scored on a double by Glassman in the top of the third to give the Blue Devils an early lead. A single by Lippincott scored Glassman and gave CCSU a 2-0 cushion.
Central padded its lead in the top of the fourth when sophomore Franklin Jennings reached on an infield single. Severino followed with his second homerun of the season to bring home Jennings and make it 4-0.
That was all the help sophomore Brett Susi would need as he threw a shutout to earn his first win of the season. Over 7.0 innings, he scattered four hits with three strikeouts and no walks. Mount did not have a runner advance past second base in the second game.
Severino went 3-for-3 with two runs batted in and Glassman went 2-for-3 with an RBI to power the Blue Devils at the plate.
The teams are scheduled to wrap up the series with a doubleheader on Friday. The first game is slated for 1 p.m.
