Baseball Swept by Bryant in Friday Doubleheader
The Blue Devils travel to UConn on Monday
Central Connecticut was swept by Bryant in a Northeast Conference baseball doubleheader on Friday at CCSU Baseball Field. The Bulldogs won the first game, 15-4, and took the second by a score of 7-2. CCSU slips to 15-15 overall on the season and 5-7 in the NEC, while Bryant is 28-12 overall and 10-2 in the league.
The Blue Devils travel to UConn on Monday in a 3:00 p.m. contest.
GAME 1: Bryant 15, CCSU 4
The Bulldogs' offense banged out 22 hits and built a nine-run lead to win the first game of the day.
Bryant hit four home runs in the game and used a six-run fifth inning to break the contest open. The Bulldogs batted around and had seven hits in the inning, with Shane Kelly collecting two hits in the frame. Kelly would single with two outs and drive in a run to extend the lead to 9-0.
In the bottom of the fifth, sophomore Jake Siracusa singled before classmate Peyton Stephens followed with a homerun to left field to get CCSU on the board and make it 9-2.
Bryant added three runs in the sixth and a run in each of the seventh and ninth innings.
Junior Chris Kanios hit a solo homerun in the bottom of the seventh and in the eighth freshman James Dolaghan doubled before coming home on a single by junior Buddy Dewaine to round out CCSU's scoring.
Kanios went 3-for-3 in the game for Central, while Dolaghan entered as a pinch-hitter and went 2-for-2 for CCSU.
Bryant had six players with three hits each. James Ciliento had four RBIs to lead the Bulldogs. Tyler Mattison limited the Blue Devils to three runs in 7.0 innings, while striking out five.
GAME 2: Bryant 7, CCSU 2
Bryant hit five homeruns to account for all seven runs in the second game of the day. The Blue Devils would score a pair of runs late to settle the final score.
Nick Angelini hit a solo homerun to open the scoring in the second before Ryan Ward hit his first of two homeruns to make it 2-0 in the third inning.
Bryant hit a pair of two-run homers in the third and fourth innings to extend the lead to 6-0 before a solo shot by Gaby Cruz rounded out the Bulldogs' scoring.
Sophomore Sam Loda doubled to lead off the sixth inning and with two outs, Siracusa tripled to the game in right to get CCSU on the scoreboard.
CCSU loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh inning, but could only manage a run when Stephens crossed the plate on a groundball doubleplay to make it 7-2.
Siracusa and Stephens each had two hits for Central in the days' second game. Seniors Mike Appel and Jared Gallagher combined to throw 4.0 shutout innings in relief and struck out three, while allowing just two hits.
Angelini had three hits for Bryant, while Ward drove in three runs. Nathan Wrighter threw 4.0 shutout innings for the win, while Chris Wright came on to throw 1.2 innings for the save.
CCSU is back in action on Monday, April 22 at UConn at 3:00 p.m.
