Baseball Stopped by Navy on Sunday
Blue Devils fall to Mids, 11-6, in weekend finale.
The Central Connecticut baseball team dropped its weekend finale, 11-6, against Navy on Sunday at Max Bishop Stadium. A four-run fifth inning for the Mids provided a cushion to down the Blue Devils.
Central slips to 6-7 overall on the season, while Navy improves to 7-7.
The Blue Devils are slated to host UMass Lowell on Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. on CCSU Baseball Field.
Navy opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the first. Logan Knowles walked and stole second to lead off. He came around to score on a double by Travis Blue to make it 1-0.
The Blue Devils evened the score with a run in the top of the third. Junior Nick Garland singled to lead off and moved to second on a sacrifice and then to third on a ground out. Senior Tyler Coleman singled up the middle to drive in Garland and make it 1-1.
The Mids regained the lead with two runs in the bottom of the third. Consecutive singles to lead off, followed by a walk loaded the bases with no outs. Adrian Chinnery would double to left field with one out and drive in two runs to make it 3-1.
Navy added a run in the fourth after Knowles tripled with two outs and scored on single to make it 4-1. The Mids would add four more runs in the fifth to extend its lead. Ben Lowe and Knowles would each drive in a run, while two wild pitches allowed two more runs to cross the plate and put Navy ahead, 8-1.
CCSU would cut into the deficit with a three-run seventh inning. The Blue Devils loaded the bases with no outs and Coleman scored junior Ron Jackson to make it 8-2. A double by junior Dean Lockery drove in senior Nick Landell and junior Dylan Maher to make it 8-4.
Navy got a run back in the bottom of the inning on a double by Knowles and then scored two more in the eighth to make it 11-4.
Freshman Chris Kanios led off the top of the ninth with his first career home run. Coleman followed with a single and then scored on a double by Lockery to make it 11-6. Navy would make a pitching change and after junior Ryan Costello was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second, the Mids would avoid further damage by getting three straight outs to close the game.
The Blue Devils would combine for 11 hits as a team. Lockery had two doubles and drove in three runs, while Coleman had two hits and two runs driven in. Kanios, Maher and Costello each had two hits.
Freshman Ron Grant started for Central. He went 4.1 innings and struck out four, but took the loss after allowing six earned runs on seven hits and four walks.
Knowles led the Navy offense with four hits, three runs scored and two RBI. George Coughlin started and went 6.0 innings. He allowed four runs on six hits with two walks and two strikeouts to get the win.
Central is scheduled to host UMass Lowell on Tuesday at 1:00 p.m.