Baseball Bounces Back With 10-2 Win at Furman Saturday

The Central Connecticut baseball team pounded out 15 hits in a 10-2 win over Furman on Saturday at Latham Stadium in Greenville, SC. Senior Nick Garland banged out four hits and drove in three runs, while junior Mike Appel tossed six innings and struck out seven on the hill. 

The win improves the Blue Devils to 2-3 overall on the year, while Furman slips to 5-5 overall.

The Blue Devils and Paladins close out the series on Sunday with a single game. First pitch is slated for 11:30 a.m.

Furman opened the scoring in the bottom of the first. Ben Anderson led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice. Brandon Elmy delivered a double to drive in Anderson and make it 1-0.

Garland would get things going for CCSU in the second inning. He hit a ground-rule double to right center gap with one out. Freshman Peyton Stephens would reach on a two-out fielding error that allowed Garland to score and extend the inning. Stephens moved to second on the play and would score one batter later to make it 2-1 when freshman Sam Loda singled through the left side.

Central tacked on four runs in the third. Senior Dean Lockery doubled to lead off and scored on a single by freshman Jake Siracusa who went to second on the throw home. Sophomore TT Bowens followed with a single through the middle to score Siracusa and make it 4-1. Garland followed two batters later with a home run to center field to drive in two runs and make it 6-1. 

Furman got a run back in the bottom of the inning after Anderson led off with a triple and scored on a ground out by Jabari Richards to make it 6-2.

Stephens led off the CCSU sixth inning with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice. Freshman Jay Devito singled through the left side to drive in Stephens and make it 7-2. Devito would steal second and move to third on a passed ball. Bowens would hit a two-out single to plate Devito and make it 8-2. 

Garland would lead off the seventh inning with a home run to make it 9-2. He would single in the ninth and come around to score on a single by Stephens in the ninth inning to close the scoring at 10-2.

Appel improved to 2-0 on the season, allowing two runs in 6.0 innings of work. He allowed four hits and walked two, while striking out seven. Junior Jared Gallagher worked 3.0 scoreless innings and got his first save of the year. He struck out five and allowed just one hit.

Garland went 4-for-5 with four runs and three RBIs on a pair of home runs. Bowens had three hits and two RBIs, while Stephens added three hits and scored two runs.

Anderson led Furman with two hits and two runs scored. Matt Lazzaro started and took the loss. He went 7.0 innings and was charged with six earned runs. He struck out four, walked one and gave up 12 hits.