Baseball Upends UConn, 8-4, on Wednesday

The Central Connecticut baseball team scored seven runs in the first two innings en route to an 8-4 win over Connecticut on Wednesday at J.O. Christian Field. Senior Connor Fitzsimons and sophomore Ryan Costello each drove in three runs to lead the Blue Devils.

The win improved Central to 6-11 overall on the season. UConn falls to 9-10 overall with the loss.

CCSU scored all of its runs in the first two innings with two outs. Sophomore Dean Lockery drew a two-out walk in the first and scored on a double by junior Andrew Hinckley. Costello followed with a single to make it 2-0 and advanced to second base on the throw home. Fitzsimons' single through the right side scored Costello to make it 3-0. Senior Matt Martinez singled to give CCSU four straight hits, but UConn managed to get out of the inning without further damage.

Freshman David Balunek singled with two outs in the second to spark Central. A single by Lockery was followed by Hinckley getting hit by a pitch to load the bases. Costello drew a walk to plate a run and make it 4-0. Fitzsimons hit a two-run single to centerfield to make it 6-0 and an error allowed him to advance to second and put runners on second and third. Martinez followed by reaching first base on a wild pitch after striking out, which allowed Costello to come home and make it 7-0.

The lead was enough for freshman Jared Gallagher who would pick up the win on the mound. He allowed just two hits through the first three innings. UConn managed to finally break through in the fourth inning with a two-run homerun by John Toppa to make it 7-2.

Costello hit a solo shot to right field in the top of the seventh to push CCSU's lead to 8-2.

The Huskies would claw back two runs in the bottom of the seventh with three straight doubles from Willy Yahn, Bobby Melley and Joe DeRoche-Duffin to make it 8-4.

Central pounded out 12 hits, led by Fitzsimons who was 3-for-4 on the day with three RBIs. Costello was 2-for-3 with three runs scored and three runs batted in. Balunek and Hinckley each added two hits.

Gallagher allowed two runs on five hits in 4.0 innings, with one walk and two strikeouts to get his first win of the year.

Andrew Zapata took the loss for UConn, allowing seven runs, six earned, in just 1.2 innings of work on seven hits with two walks and two strikeouts. Yahn had four hits for the Huskies, who combined four nine hits as a team.

It was CCSU's first win at UConn since a 7-3 win on April 28, 2010.

The Blue Devils are back in action on Friday with a game at Iona.