Niman, Garofalo Earn NEIBA Recogntion; Niman Named Pitcher of the Year
Dominic Niman and Luke Garofalo of the Central Connecticut baseball team were named to the All-New England Team it was announced by the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) on Friday morning. In addition to being named to the First Team, Niman was named the Pitcher of the Year.
Dominic Niman and Luke Garofalo of the Central Connecticut baseball team were named to the All-New England Team it was announced by the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) on Friday morning. In addition to being named to the First Team, Niman was named the Pitcher of the Year.
Niman, who was named a Second Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper one day prior, added to his list of honors after also being named Northeast Conference of the Year. He helped toss CCSU into the NCAA Tournament, going 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA across 16.0 innings at the league tournament. Niman, on two-days' rest, hurled a complete game in the decisive title game, helping Central to a 12-3 win over Wagner. In CCSU's first game of the postseason, he struckout a career-high 14 hitters over 7.0 innings in a 5-2 win over Sacred Heart. On the season, Niman has gone 12-2 with a 2.76 ERA. He holds the program-record for victories in a season, while also tossing a program-high 97.2 innings to this point. Niman won his first seven starts of the season and allowed more than three earned runs just twice, while going at least 5.0 innings in all 14 of his starts. In 10 conference starts, Niman went 9-1 with a 2.41 ERA and posted 60 strikeouts, against just 18 walks, in 71.0 innings pitched.
Garofalo earned All-New England First Team honors for the second straight year after helping anchor the Blue Devils' bullpen. The right-hander went 4-0 with a program-record 11 saves with a 2.09 ERA. He struck out 45 across 43.0 innings in 21 appearances. Garofalo was also named to the NEC All-Tournament team where he had a save, in addition to making his first career start in a must-win game for the Blue Devils. He would toss a 7.0-inning complete game in a 13-2 CCSU win, allowing just one earned run on six hits, while striking out two.
The Blue Devils will face 15th-seeded South Carolina on Friday night at the NCAA Columbia Regional. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on ESPN+. The regional field also includes Campbell and NC State.