Baseball Drops Pair at Fairleigh Dickinson

The Central Connecticut baseball team dropped a pair of one-run games at Fairleigh Dickinson on Sunday in Northeast Conference action. FDU took game one, 3-2, in seven innings and took the second game, 2-1, in nine innings.

CCSU is 19-27 overall and 11-13 in the NEC. FDU is 24-24 overall and 14-13 in the NEC.

GAME 1: CCSU 2, Fairleigh Dickinson 3

Central's rally came up short in the seven-inning first game of the doubleheader on Sunday, falling 3-2.

FDU scored first in the bottom of the first inning. Dylan Sprague was hit by a pitch and stole second base befoce coming home to score on a single by Ryan Brennan to make it 1-0.

The Blue Devils came back in the fourth to push across a run and tie it up. Back to back walks put runners on first and second with no outs. Senior Corey Lerche laid down a sacrifice bunt to move junior Franklin Jennings and sophomore Dean Lockery to second and third base before junior Andrew Hinckley brought home a run with a sacrifice fly to make it 1-1.

The Knights came back in the bottom of the fourth with two runs to regain the lead. Brennan and Patrick McClure hit back-to-back singles with one out and a walk loaded the bases. Joel Roman hit a sacrifice fly to score one run and make it 2-1. Jason Fatzinger put the ball in play on the next at bat, but an error on the play allowed another run to make it 3-1.

The Blue Devils tried to rally in the seventh with singles by sophomore John Lippincott and senior Connor Fitzsimons to lead off the inning. A sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third before sophomore Nick Garland drove in a run on a groundout to make it 3-2. After a walk put runners on the corners, FDU was able to end the the rally and get out of the  inning for the win.

Freshman Mike Appel started for CCSU and allowed three runs, two earned, on four hits in 4.0 innings. He struck out two, but walked three and is now 1-3 on the season. Junior Michael Pastore threw 2.0 innings in relief, giving up just one walk.

Logan Frati threw 7.0 innings for FDU and allowed two runs on four hits. He walked four and struck out two, while moving to 7-1.

GAME 2: CCSU 1, Fairleigh Dickinson 2

Central fell in the second game in another one-run game. The Knights again scored in the bottom of the first to take an early lead. A leadoff double by Sprague was followed by a bunt single by Matt McCann and a throwing error on the play allowed the first run to score to make it 1-0.

CCSU tied the game up in the top of the third. Senior Matt Martinez led off with a double down the line in left field and moved to third on a sacrifice. Sophomore Mitch Guilmette brought Martinez home on a sacrifice fly to make it 1-1.

FDU scored a run in the bottom of the fourth to go ahead 2-1. Brennan led off with a walk and moved to third on a sacrifice and then a ground out. Joel Roman singled to bring home Brennan. 

The Blue Devils would threaten in the fifth by putting runners on second and third with two outs, but an inning-ending groundout kept the score unchanged and FDU did not allow a runner past first base the rest of the way.

Junior Brett Susi threw 6.2 innings for CCSU. He allowed two runs on six hits, while walking four with one strikeout. He is now 4-6 on the season. Freshman Brandon Fox threw 1.1 innings of perfect relief.

Corey Zeller threw 7.2 innings for FDU. He allowed one run on five hits with one walk and five strikeouts. Sprague got the save by recording the last two outs.

Central returns to action with a four-game conference series at Bryant beginning on Friday, May 13.