Baseball Sweeps Wagner in Friday Doubleheader

The Central Connecticut baseball team swept a doubleheader from Wagner in Northeast Conference action on Friday afternoon. The Blue Devils took the first game, 2-1, before taking the second game, 8-1. With the wins, CCSU moved ahead of the Seahawks into fourth place in the NEC standings.

Central is now 22-32 overall and 14-17 in the Northeast Conference. Wagner slips to 19-32 overall and 13-18 in the NEC.

Game 1: CCSU 2, Wagner 1

Junior Andrew Hinckley threw a complete game and sophomore John Lippincott broke a scoreless tie with a run-scoring triple to help CCSU to a 2-1 win in the day's first game.

The game was scoreless into the bottom of the fourth inning. Senior Corey Lerche started the inning with a walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Lippincott came up with two outs and laced a triple to the wall in centerfield to make it 1-0. Senior Matt Martinez followed with a single through the right side to drive in Lippincott and make it 2-0.

After working out of a bases loaded jam in the fifth, the Seahawks were able to get a run back in the sixth to cut into Central's lead. Nick Mascelli singled to lead off and moved to third on a double by Ben Ruta with one out. Phil Capra hit a sacrifice fly to right field to make it 2-1. 

Wagner would get a runner to second in the top of the seventh, but Hinckley would retire the last three batters he faced to sew up the victory. 

Hinckley finished with six strikeouts against two walks and allowed just one run on six hits to improve to 8-3 on the year. 

Five Blue Devils collected a hit for CCSU, including the run-scoring hits by Lippincott and Martinez.

Mike Adams threw all 6.0 innings for Wagner and took the loss. He allowed two runs on five hits with four walks and a strikeout. Mascelli had two hits for the Seahawks.

Game 2: CCSU 8, Wagner 1

The Blue Devils got a grand slam from Lippincott in the top of the first, en route to six runs in the first two innings, to cruise to an 8-1 win in the second game of the doubleheader. 

It was more than enough run support for freshman Mike Appel who threw a complete game to pick up the win. He scattered five hits over 7.0 innings and allowed one unearned run, while walking two.

Central jumped on Wagner in the top of the first as the first four batters all reached on singles. Junior Franklin Jennings led off with an infield single and sophomores Nick Garland and Dean Lockery followed with back-to-back bunt singles to load the bases. Hinckley drove in Jennings with a sharp single to left field to make it 1-0. The Seahawks nearly escaped without further damage before Lippincott sent a 1-0 pitch over the wall in right field to clear the bases and make it 5-0. 

Junior Nick Landell led off the second inning with a single. He came around to score from first base on a double by Garland to make it 6-0.

Appel allowed one hit through the first three innings before Wagner was able to get a run in the fourth. The Seahawks loaded the bases with two outs. After Appel induced a groundball, a fielding miscue allowed Kyle Cala to score and make it 6-1.

The Blue Devils padded the lead in the fifth after Garland and Lockery were both put on to lead off the inning. They stole bases to move to second and third base and after back-to-back strikeouts, senior Connor Fitzsimons came up and lined a single to right field to drive in both runners to make it 8-1 to finish the scoring.

Central finished with 10 hits as Jennings and Garland had two hits apiece. Garland also drove in a run and scored twice. Fitzsimons drove in a pair and Lippincott had four RBI to power the Blue Devils.

Matt Morris took the loss for Wagner. He allowed six runs in 4.0 innings on eight hits, while striking out two.

Ben Ruta finished 2-for-4 at the plate for the Seahawks.

The series concludes with a single nine-inning contest on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Prior to the game, Central will recognize its senior class before their final home game.