Baseball Wins on Kanios' Walk-Off Homerun, 6-5

Sophomore Chris Kanios hit an inside-the-park three-run home run with two outs to cap a Central Connecticut baseball rally in a 6-5 win over Fairleigh Dickinson on Sunday at CCSU Baseball Field. The Blue Devils trailed by four runs entering the final frame before collecting five runs on four hits to sweep the weekend series from the Knights. Kanios would finish the day 3-for-5 with three RBIs.

The win boosted CCSU to 6-8 overall and 4-2 in the NEC, while FDU slips to 7-9 overall and 0-3 in the league.

Central would score a run in the first to take an early lead. Senior Dean Lockery led off with a walk and would advance on a Kanios single and a ground out. Senior Nick Garland would hit a two-out single to drive in Lockery from third and make it 1-0.

FDU starter Corey Zeller would keep the Blue Devils' offense at bay after that. He would face the minimum number of batters over the next four innings as FDU would build a four-run lead.

The Knights evened the score in the second. Peter Theodorellis doubled to right center and moved to third on a single by Joe O'Rourke. A sac fly from Matt Armendinger would score FDU's first run to make it 1-1. 

FDU took the lead in the fifth as Brandon Seltzer led off with a walk and moved to third on a groundout and a stolen base. Evan McDonald would follow with a triple to the gap in right center to drive in a run and make it 2-1. A sac fly would score McDonald to push the lead to two runs.

The Knights opened the seventh with back-to-back hits to put runners on the corners. McDonald hit a sac fly to the score the first run. With runners on first and second, Theodorellis singled up the middle to plate a run and extend the lead to 5-1.

Senior Mitch Guilmette led off the CCSU ninth inning with a double down the right field line. He scored one batter later after freshman Peyton Stephens singled to left to make it 5-2. Following a fly out, freshman Christian Layne doubled down the right field line to push runners to second and third. Senior Dylan Maher pinch hit and drew a walk to load the bases with one out. Senior Dean Lockery would ground out to first, but a run scored on the play to make it 5-3 with runners on second and third for Kanios. The sophomore delivered with a fly to right that tailed away from the fielder and came down inside the line allowing him to clear the bases and race home for the winning run, 6-5.

The Blue Devils had seven players collect hits to finish with 10 hits as a team. In addition to Kanios' three hits, Stephens collected two hits with an RBI and a run scored. 

Sophomore Michael Delease started for CCSU and went 4.1 innings. He was charged with three runs, while collecting two strikeouts. Junior Patrick Mitchell got the win in relief, tossing 2.2 shutout innings with a strikeout and just two hits allowed.

Central is back in action on Tuesday, March 27, against Fairfield at 3:00 p.m.