Baseball Breaks Out Bats in 14-9 Win at Wagner

The Central Connecticut baseball team bounced back with a win on Saturday, powering past Wagner, 14-9, at FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood, NJ. The Blue Devils took control of the game with 11 runs in the third and fourth inning en route to a season-high runs total.

The game had a 1-hour, 14-minute delay due to rain and was stopped due to lightning in the area before resuming.

The teams wrap up the series at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday in Lakewood, NJ.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: CCSU 14, Wagner 9
Pitching Record: W: Spizzuocco (2-0) | L: Merkel (0-3) | Sv: --
Records: CCSU (8-5, 1-1 NEC), WAG (3-17, 1-1 NEC)
Location: FirstEnergy Park | Lakewood, NJ

KEY MOMENTS

• Wagner got a two-run homerun from Mike Ruggiero in the bottom of the first to open the scoring, but CCSU came back with two runs in the second to tie the game. Senior Sam Loda led off with a double and sophomore Joe Rios drew a two-out walk to set the table for sophomore Elliot Good. He would hit a double to drive in a pair and tie the game.
• Central would bat around in the third and scored six runs on just one hit, while taking advantage of two Wagner errors. CCSU loaded the bases with three walks to open the inning before Loda hit a sacrifice fly to drive in the go-ahead run. An error and wild pitch would allow two more runs to score to make it 5-2 with just one out. Another walk and hit batter would load the bases for Good who singled to left to drive in a run. Consecutive wild pitches would plate two more runs for the Blue Devils to make it 8-2.
• The Blue Devils tacked on five runs in the fourth inning after the Seahawks had scored three in the bottom of the third. Freshman Aidan Redahan would drive in two runs with a single to make it 10-5, before Good drove in his fourth run of the day to bring home another run. Sophomore Hunter Pasqualini singled to center with two outs to drive home two runs and make it 13-5.
• Wagner clawed back two runs in the sixth after loading the bases with two outs. Dante Faicchio would single to right field to bring home a pair of runs and make it 13-7.
• The Seahawks would cut further into the deficit in the eighth inning, do all of their damage with two outs. With runners on first and second, Faicchio and Mateo Matthews would deliver back-to-back singles driving in a run apiece to make it 13-9 before the Blue Devils got out of the inning.
• Central padded its lead in the top of the ninth. A pair of walks to begin the inning put runners on first and second before junior Noah Martinez delivered an RBI-single to make it 14-9.

NOTES

• Central recorded double-digit hits for the fourth time in seven games.
• Good went 3-for-4 with four RBIs, while Pasqualini, Redahan and Rios each had two hits. Rios added three runs scored.
• The Blue Devils used five pitchers in the game. Sophomore Jake Neuman started but was relieved after 2.2 innings.
• Freshman Vincent Spizzuocco tossed 3.1 innings and allowed two runs, while striking out six.
• CCSU head coach Charlie Hickey has a 589-513-5 record in 23 years at the school and is 695-574-6 overall.

UP NEXT

The teams wrap up the series at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday in Lakewood, NJ.