Homeruns Lift Merrimack by Baseball on Friday

The Central Connecticut baseball team lost the opener of a Northeast Conference series to Merrimack, 7-4, on Friday in New Britain. The Blue Devils got a two-run homerun in the first inning, but would be outdone by the Warriors' three homeruns.

The Blue Devils and Merrimack will continue the series on Saturday with a 1:00 p.m. game.

GAME INFORMATION | BOX SCORE

Score:  CCSU 4, MERRIMACK 7
Pitching Record: W: Heffernan (2-1) | L: Neuman (2-4) | Save: Logie (1)
Records: CCSU (6-14, 5-8 NEC), MC (10-17, 7-6 NEC)
Location: CCSU Baseball Field | New Britain, CT

KEY MOMENTS

• Central opened the scoring with two runs in the first inning. Gianno Merlonghi poked a one-out single to right field for the first hit of the game. With two outs, Jeff Nicol hit a long fly over the fence in right field to make it 2-0.
• Frankie Ferrentino would get Merrimack on the board with a leadoff homerun to left field to make it a one-run game.
• In the bottom of the second, CCSU would scratch out a run to push the lead back to two runs. Hunter Pasqualini singled to centerfield to lead off. He moved to third on a one-out single by Elliot Good and put runners on the corners. Bo Yaworski would follow with a groundout to first base that brought home a run and made it 3-1.
• Merrimack got a two-out double from Logan Castellano who scored following a single by Cavan Brady and make it 3-2.
• The Warriors took advantage of an error in the fifth inning to take the lead. With a runner on and two outs, Ferrentino reached on an error to extend the inning. With runners on first and third, Braydon Dolbashian hit a homerun to straightaway centerfield to make it 5-3.
• Merrimack padded its lead with a two-run homerun by Christian Gemelli in the top of the ninth.
• In the bottom of the ninth, Pasqualini led off with a single and moved to third on a two-base error that allowed Colby Brouillette to reach safely. Joe Rios would pinch hit and hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield bringing in a run to make it 7-4. The Warriors ended the game by inducing a pair of fly balls.

NOTES

• CCSU leads the all-time series, 8-2. Merrimack ended an eight-game slide in the series.
• Pasqualini went 3-for-4 with two runs scored in the game.
• Merlonghi had two hits, including a triple in the fifth inning.
• Jake Neuman started for CCSU and tossed 7.0 innings. He allowed just two earned runs, while striking out four batters.
• Nicol has hit safely in nine of the past 10 games and has a pair of homeruns in that stretch.
• Central was held to just three hits after the second inning.

UP NEXT

The Blue Devils and Merrimack will continue the series on Saturday with a 1:00 p.m. game.

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