Baseball Surges Past Merrimack on Friday
The Central Connecticut baseball team earned a comfortable 11-1 win over Merrimack in Northeast Conference action on Friday in New Britain. The Blue Devils built an eight-run lead and got six shutout innings from starter freshman Vincent Spizzoucco to win their third straight.
The teams close out the regular season on Saturday with first pitch slated for 11 a.m.
GAME INFORMATION | BOX SCORE
Score: CCSU 11, Merrimack 1
Pitching Record: W: Spizzoucco (6-2) | L: Healy (3-3) | Sv: - -
Records: CCSU (27-16, 16-10 NEC), Merrimack (17-30-1, 12-14 NEC)
Location: CCSU Baseball Field | New Britain, CT
KEY MOMENTS
- Sophomore Hunter Pasqualini led off with a double and moved to third on a single by senior Jay Devito before scoring on a failed pickoff attempt to make it 1-0 in the bottom of the first.
- Merrimack would load the bases with two outs in the second. Spizzoucco would wriggle out of the jam and kept the Warriors at bay in his day on the mound, allowing just two runners to reach third base.
- Central opened the bottom of the third with three straight singles, while collecting five hits in the frame. Devito singled home a run and junior Noah Martinez hit a sac fly to knock in another run. Freshman Kyle Gordon singled home a run to push the lead to 4-0.
- Sophomore Elliot Good led off the fourth with a double and moved to third on a balk. Junior Dan Covino would hit a sac fly to center field to score Good and push the lead to 6-0. Central tacked on two runs in the fifth, with junior Michael Torniero and Good each hitting an RBI-single.
- Merrimack would get on the board in the seventh when Jake Macchi hit a solo homerun to left field to lead off the seventh. The Blue Devils came back in the bottom of the inning with three runs. Senior Sam Loda hit a solo homer to lead off the bottom half of the inning and Torniero would follow two batters later with a two-run shot to push the CCSU lead to 10 runs.
NOTES
- Spizzoucco went 6.0 innings, scattering five hits. He walked two and struck out seven, while not allowing a run to improve his record to 6-2 on the year.
- The top three hitters in the CCSU lineup (Pasqualini, Devito, Covino) combined to go 7-for-12 at the plate with five runs and three RBIs. Pasqualini had three hits, while Devito and Covino each had a pair. Covino would drive in three runs.
- Loda (2-for-4), Torniero (2-for-4) and Good (2-for-4) each had two hits to give CCSU six hitters with at least two hits in the game. CCSU had 14 hits as a team.
- Excluding the COVID-shortened 2020 season, Central has posted three straight 25+ win seasons. CCSU has 17 such seasons under head coach Charlie Hickey.
- Central has gone 16-5 since April 12.
UP NEXT
The teams close out the regular season on Saturday with first pitch slated for 11 a.m.