Baseball Falls to Wagner on Friday at NEC Tournament.

 The top-seeded Central Connecticut baseball team fell to second-seeded Wagner, 8-3, on Friday in the Northeast Conference Tournament at Heritage Financial Park in Wappinger Falls, NY. The Blue Devils were unable to overcome an early four-run deficit to the Seahawks who didn't allow a run until the eighth inning. 

The Blue Devils will move into an elimination game on Saturday at 12:00 p.m.

GAME INFORMATION | BOX SCORE

Score: #1 CCSU 3, #2 WAGNER 8
Pitching Record: W: -Wright (5-3)  |  L: Neuman (6-2) | Sv: - -
Records: CCSU (33-12), Wagner (32-22)
Location: Heritage Financial Park | Wappingers Falls, NY

KEY MOMENTS

• The Seahawks struck first with a run in the first inning. Maimu Kobayashi led off with the first of three Wagner singles in the frame. A two-out base-knock by Griffin Selby would drive him in to make it 1-0.
• A fielding error to open the inning led to Wagner loading the bases with one out. A fielder's choice by Chris Conniff led to one run coming across. A wild pitch on the next batter allowed Ariv Camacho to beat the tag at home and make it 3-0. A double by David Melfi drove in the third run of the frame to make it a four-run game.
• Tim Buchek would come on in relief for CCSU and tossed 5.1 innings. He would hold Wagner at bay until the Seahawks loaded the bases with one out in the eighth inning. The CCSU defense would cut down one run at home plate before a wild pitch allowed Kobayashi to cross and make it a five-run Seahawks lead. Wagner would break the game open with a two-run single by Melfi and a balk allowed another run to score and make it 8-0.
• Central would put runners on second and third in the eighth following back-to-back hits by Aidan Redahan and Ramon Jimenez. Jeff Nicol would hit a one-out triple to the wall in center field to drive in two runs and get CCSU on the board.
• The Blue Devils would push across a run in the ninth. With two outs and runners on first and second, Jimenez would bang his fourth hit of the day to drive in a run and make it 8-3.

NOTES

• The teams have split four meetings during the season, while Wagner improved to 2-5 in NEC Tournament meetings. Central is 72-37 all-time against Wagner.
• Ramon Jimenez went 4-for-5 for CCSU and drove in a run.
• Buchek would toss a career-high 5.2 innings. He struck three and allowed just three hits.
• Jake Neuman started for Central. He was charged with four runs in two innings.

UP NEXT

The Blue Devils will move into an elimination game on Saturday at 12:00 p.m.

Follow @CCSUBlueDevils on Twitter and CCSUBlueDevils.com for updates.