Baseball Comes Up Short to Wagner on Friday, 5-4

The Central Connecticut baseball team dropped the opener of its Northeast Conference series to Wagner, 5-4, on Friday in New Britain. The Blue Devils had their five-game win streak snapped after falling behind by three-runs and were not able to overtake the Seahawks.

The Blue Devils and Seahawks will meet again Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

GAME INFORMATION | BOX SCORE
Score: CCSU 4, Wagner 5
Pitching Record: W: Wright (5-4) | L: Niman (3-4) | Sv: Duquette (2)
Records: CCSU (22-13, 12-7 NEC), WAGNER (13-29, 9-10 NEC)
Location: CCSU Baseball Field | New Britain, CT

KEY MOMENTS

• Wagner came out swinging and scored two runs on four hits in the top of the first. Dante Faicchio opened the scoring with a two-run homerun that cleared the left field fence to make it 2-0.
• Mike Ruggiero added a solo homerun to lead off the third inning to make it 3-0 before the Blue Devils' offense was able to respond. In the bottom of the inning, freshman Kyle Gordon singled to lead off and sophomore Hunter Pasqualini would connect on a drive over the fence in right field to make it a one-run game.
• Ruggiero hit his second home run of the day with a solo shot to right to make it 4-2 in the fifth inning. Central appeared poised for a big inning in the bottom of the fifth after loading the bases with two outs following back-to-back walks. The Seahawks would escape unharmed after a called strike three to keep the score 4-2.
• Maimu Kobayashi would drive home an insurance run in the top of the eighth to make it 5-2 in favor of the Seahawks.
• With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, junior Noah Martinez rocketed a blast to right field to make it 5-3. Freshman Tyler Fote would pinch-hit with two outs in the ninth and deposited his first career homerun over the fence in right to make it a one-run game. Jagger Duquette would induce a ground out and close out the game and end a CCSU rally.

NOTES

• Since a four-game slide April 5-12, Central has gone 11-2.
• Pasqualini hit a homerun for the second straight game. He has a seven-game hit streak and has gone 14-for-34 (.412) in that span.
• Martinez hit his 11th homerun of the season to tie for the NEC lead.
• Sophomore Dominic Niman started for CCSU, but was charged with four runs in 5.0 innings and slumped to 3-4 on the season.

UP NEXT

The Blue Devils and Seahawks will meet again Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.