Baseball Wins Game Two on Walk-Off to Split With Iona

A single in the bottom of the ninth by sophomore Dean Lockery drove in freshman David Balunek to help the Central Connecticut baseball team top Iona, 5-4, in the second game of a doubleheader Saturday. The Blue Devils fell, 6-3, in the first game at CCSU Baseball Field. The teams will play a seven-inning contest in the second game of the day.

With the win Central improves to 7-12 on the season. Iona is now 5-15 overall.

GAME 1: Iona 6, CCSU 3

Central and Iona traded two-run leads in the first game of the day before the Gaels accounted for four runs in the seventh and eighth innings to claim a 6-3 win.

Iona broke a scoreless deadlock with two runs in the top of the fifth. Kyle DiVico singled to lead off and Carmine Palummo was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. Seth Hoagland followed with a sacrifice bunt, but an error allowed him to reach and load the bases with no outs. DiVico scored on a groundout to make it 1-0, before Fran Kinsey singled to drive in Palummo for the second run.

Central came back in the bottom of the inning and got a run back. Sophomore Ryan Costello led off with a double and senior Corey Lerche followed two batters later with a single to make it 2-1. The Blue Devils managed to load the bases, but the Gaels escaped with an inning-ending double play.

CCSU scored in the bottom of the sixth to take a 3-2 lead. Balunek reached on an error to lead off and a walk to Lockery and single by junior Andrew Hinckley loaded the bases. Walks to Costello and Lerche brought home two runs to put the Blue Devils in front.

The Gaels got a one-out double by Vinny DeMaria, who came home to score on a single by Matt Byrne to make it 3-3 in the top of the seventh. Iona would load the bases with two outs before CCSU got out of the jam.

Iona loaded the bases with one out in the eighth and would score three runs to take the lead. A single by Kinsey scored two runs to break the deadlock and make it 5-3. The Gaels added a run on Matt Byrne's sacrifice fly to make it 6-3 for the final margin.

Hinckley finished with two hits for Central, while Lerche and Costello each drove in a run. Senior Casey Brown took the loss for CCSU allowing three runs, two earned in just over an inning of work. Freshman Mike Appel started for the Blue Devils and allowed two runs, one earned, in five innings of work.

Kinsey finished with three hits and three RBIs for Iona. Alex Fishberg got the win in relief throwing 3.2 innings and allowed just one hit with three walks and four strikeouts.

GAME 2: CCSU 5, Iona 4 (9 innings)

The Blue Devils won the game in walk-off fashion on a single by Lockery to drive home Balunek. CCSU won 5-4 in a game that was originally scheduled for seven innings.

Iona took the lead with three runs in the third inning. The Gaels loaded the bases with one out and back-to-back walks to Sean Breen and Travis Mistretta brought home two runs to make it 2-0. A sacrifice fly by Lou Matarazzo scored a run to make it 3-0.

Central came right back in the bottom of the inning to erase the deficit. Lockery tripled with one out and came home following an error that allowed sophomore Dylan Maher to reach base. He advanced to third on a wild pitch. Costello walked to put runners on the corners and a single by Hinckley made it 3-2. Sophomore Mitch Guilmette drove in Costello with a single to tie the game, 3-3.

The teams each scored a run in the fourth inning. A two-out triple by DeMaria was followed by a single from Kinsey to make it 4-3 in favor of Iona.

Sophomore Nick Garland led off the fourth for CCSU with a single and moved to third following a sacrifice bunt and a single. A sacrifice fly by Maher drove him in to tie the game, 4-4.

Central put runners on first and third with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, but Iona managed to end the inning and send the game to extra innings, setting up Lockery's walk-off single in the ninth.

Lockery finished the game 3-for-4 at the plate with a run scored and an RBI. Hinckley added two hits at the plate and also picked up the win on the mound. Hinckley retired the final eight batters he faced and allowed just one hit in 4.0 innings of work with four strikeouts.

Junior Brett Susi started for CCSU and allowed four runs in 4.0 innings of work.

DeMaria went 3-for-3 at the plate for Iona with two runs in game two. Jared Finkel started for the Gaels and allowed four runs, three earned, in 4.0 innings of work on five hits. He walked three and struck two.

The Blue Devils are back in action on Tuesday, March 29, at Rhode Island. First pitch is slated for 3:00 p.m.