Baseball Wins Series-Opener, 6-2, Against Mount St. Mary's

The Central Connecticut baseball team opened its three-game Northeast Conference series against Mount St. Mary's with a 6-2 win on Thursday at CCSU Baseball Field. Senior Andrew Braun tossed six innings of one-run ball, and junior Sam Loda and freshman Jeff Nicol each knocked in a pair of runs in the win.

The Blue Devils scored five runs in the fourth and fifth innings to build a five-run cushion en route to the win.

GAME ONE INFORMATION
Score: CCSU 6, Mount St. Mary's 2
Records: CCSU (8-5, 5-2 NEC), MSM (5-15, 1-6 NEC)
Location: CCSU Baseball Field | New Britain, CT
Pitching Record: W: Braun (3-0) | L: Yetter (0-1) | Sv: Sabia (2)

KEY MOMENTS

• CCSU opened the fourth inning with back-to-back walks, followed by a sacrifice bunt by Loda to put runners on second and third. Nicol followed with a bases-clearing triple to make it 2-0. He would score on a double by junior Peyton Stephens to make it 3-0.
• The Blue Devils again put runners on base with a pair of walks in the fifth. With two outs, Loda doubled into the gap in right-center to drive in two runs and make it 5-0.
• Braun retired 13-of-14 batters he faced before Mount strung together three hits to open the sixth. A double by Ryan Haddaway drove in a run to make it 5-1. Braun would get consecutive strikeouts and a flyout to get out of the inning before he exited the game. 
• Central got the run back in the bottom of the sixth after Stephens drew a walk to lead off and came around to score on a double by sophomore Dan Covino to make it 6-1.
• Mount's Myles Nicholson led off the eighth, reaching on an error and advancing to third base. He would score on a groundout by Haddaway to make it 6-2.

NUMBER TO KNOW

1 - Braun has surrendered just one walk in his four games started, encompassing 26.0 innings.

NOTES

• Braun tossed 6.0 innings, allowing six hits with nine strikeouts and no walks. He improved to 3-0 on the season.
• Junior Dylan Sabia earned the save, allowing one unearned run in 3.0 innings. He allowed one hit and one walk, while striking out four.
• Stephens went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI. Freshman Michael Torneiro went 2-for-4.
• Central had just seven hits in the game, but four of them went for extra bases.

UP NEXT

The teams will meet again on Friday in a 1:00 p.m. first pitch.