Baseball Drops Series Finale at LIU Brooklyn on Sunday, 5-3
The Blue Devils are scheduled to host UConn on Wednesday.
Central Connecticut fell to LIU Brooklyn, 5-3, on Sunday in the Northeast Conference baseball series finale in Brooklyn, NY. Freshman Peyton Stephens went 3-for-4 at the plate to lead the Central offense. The loss drops CCSU to 3-7 overall and 1-2 in league play, while LIU improves to 9-9 overall and 2-1 in the NEC.
The Blue Devils are scheduled to host UConn on Wednesday at CCSU Baseball Field.
The Blackbirds opened the scoring with three runs in the first. LIU loaded the bases with nobody out and Edward Modica drove in a run with a sac fly to left field. Anthony Warneke and Alex Briggs would both reach base with the bases loaded to bring home a run each and make it 3-0.
Central rebounded with three runs in the top of the second to tie the game. The bases were loaded with one out and sophomore Chris Kanios would reach on an error to plate the Blue Devils' first run. Senior Mitch Guilmette followed with a bases loaded walk to make it 3-2. Senior Nick Garland was hit by a pitch to bring home the tying run and make it 3-3.
LIU took the lead in the third inning on a solo home run by Andrew Turner. The Blackbirds then tacked on an insurance run in the fifth inning when Warneke singled home a run to make it 5-3.
A lead off single by Stephens in the CCSU fifth was the last runner to reach base for Central as LIU took two of three contests to open NEC play for the teams.
Stephens would finish 3-for-4 and Garland would go 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Blue Devils.
Senior Kyle Anderson came on in relief for CCSU and would take the loss. He tossed 4.0 innings and struck out five, but gave up two runs on three hits.
Turner went 2-for-2 with three runs and an RBI to lead the LIU offense. Cory Hart started and got the win on the mound for LIU. He went 6.1 innings and struck out five, allowing three unearned runs. Mike Kreiger got the save tossing 2.2 perfect innings with four strikeouts.