Baseball Downs Mount St. Mary's in Series Opener, 7-2

Central Connecticut opened a three-game Northeast Conference baseball series with a 7-2 win over Mount St. Mary's on Thursday afternoon at Straw Family Stadium in Emmitsburg, MD. The Blue Devils scored five runs over the fith and sixth innings to built its winning margin. Freshman TT Bowens had three hits and drove in three runs, while senior Brendan Smith won his second straight NEC start on the mound.

The Blue Devils improve to 17-13 overall with the win and are now 8-3 in NEC play. The Mount slips to 4-23 overall and 2-9 in conference play.

The three-game series continues on Friday with a single game at 1:00 p.m.

Junior Dean Lockery led off the game with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. With two outs, Bowens singled to the gap in right center and drove Lockery in for a 1-0 CCSU lead.

The Blue Devils added a run in the second inning. Freshman Buddy Dewaine and senior Franklin Jennings hit back-to-back singles to open the inning and a sacrifice bunt advanced them to second and third base. Senior Nick Landell would hit a sacrifice fly to left field to bring in Dewaine and make it 2-0.

Lockery led off the fifth inning with a single for CCSU. Following a walk to senior Tyler Coleman and a single by junior Ryan Costello, the Blue Devils loaded the bases with no outs. Bowens would deliver a double down the right field line to score two runs and make it 4-0. Jennings would drive Costello in with a two-out single to center field to push the lead to 5-0.

The Blue Devils tacked on two more runs in the sixth inning. Lockery walked and Coleman singled before moving to second and third on a ground out. With two outs, Bowens put the ball in play with a groundball to third base, but a throwing error allowed him to reach base safely and Lockery and Coleman to score and make it 7-0.

The Mount finally managed to get to Smith in the seventh with two runs. Vaughn Parker led off the inning with a solo homerun to left field to make it 7-1. Sean Kelly followed with a double and moved to third on a fly out. Tanner Sampson would bring him home with a ground out to first base to make it 7-2.

The Blue Devils cranked out 14 hits as a team. Jennings had three hits, an RBI and a stolen base. Lockery and Coleman each had two hits. Lockery would score three runs, while Coleman notched a pair of runs scored. 

Smith improved to 3-4 on the season, allowing just two runs on seven hits with three walks and four strikeouts. Junior Nick Plachno tossed the ninth inning, working around a pair of walks.

Jordan Lawson took the loss for Mount St. Mary's. He allowed five runs on 10 hits in 4.1 innings. He struck out two and walked one. 

Tyler Post went 2-for-2 for the Mountaineers, as they collected seven hits and left seven runners on base.

The series continues with a single game at 1:00 p.m. on Friday.