Pair of Shutouts Help Baseball Sweep Doubleheader vs. Mount
Hinckley and Appel combine to allow just six hits in two games.
The Central Connecticut baseball team got a pair of complete-game shutouts to sweep a doubleheader from Mount St. Mary's on Saturday at CCSU Baseball Field. Central took the first game, 2-0, and then took the second game by a 6-0 score. Junior Andrew Hinckley and freshman Mike Appel combined to allow just six Mount St. Mary's hits in the day's two seven-inning games.
With the wins, Central has won six straight against Northest Conference opponents and is now 13-15 overall and 6-5 in the NEC.
GAME 1 - CCSU 2, Mount St. Mary's 0:
The Blue Devils got a complete-game shutout from Hinckleyto prevail, 2-0, in the opening game of the day's doubleheader. In a game dominated by strong pitching, Hinckley allowed only three Mountaineers runners to reach second base, while senior Corey Lerche drove in both CCSU runs to provide the needed offense.
Central opened the scoring in the bottom of the first. Senior Connor Fitzsimons singled to get things started and moved to second on a single by sophomore Ryan Costello. Lerche drove in Fitzsimons with a single to left field to make it 1-0.
The game settled into a duel between the pitchers through the middle innings. Hinckley retired 10 straight Mountaineers at one point, while Connor Graber only allowed one Blue Devil to reach second base after giving up a run in the first.
CCSU added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. Costello reached on an error to lead off the inning and freshman Chandler Debrosse followed with a sacrifice bunt to move him to second base. Lerche drove in his second run of the day with a single through the right side to make it 2-0.
The lead was more than enough for Hinckley who allowed a single in the seventh, but ended the game by snagging a comeback line drive. It was Hinckley's second straight shutout in conference play after shutting down Wagner, 2-0, on April 1. He allowed just four hits, walked none and struck out three to improve to 4-2 on the year.
Fitzsimons and Lerche each collected two hits for CCSU. Lerche drove in both runs.
Graber threw a complete game for Mount and allowed seven hits. He gave up two runs, one earned, and struck out one, while walking no one.
GAME 2 - CCSU 6, Mount St. Mary's 0
Appel turned in a shutout of his own in the day's second game to help the Blue Devils complete the sweep. He allowed just two hits on the day and did not allow a Mountaineer past second base in the 6-0 win.
Central got all the offense it would need in the second inning with two runs. Sophomore Nick Garland and senior Matt Martinez led off the inning by each drawing a walk to put runners on first and second. A sacrifice bunt by junior Tyler Coleman moved them both into scoring position and sophomore Dean Lockery drove them both in with a single to make it 2-0.
The Blue Devils added two more runs in the third when Costello, Lerche and Fitzsimons hit three straight singles to open the inning and load the bases. A groundout by Garland brought in a run and a single by Martinez drove in one more to make it 4-0.
CCSU closed out the scoring in the fifth with a pair of unearned runs. Garland reached on an error with one out and moved to second on a single by Martinez. Coleman followed with a single to drive in Garland and put runners on the corners. An infield groundout by junior Nick Landell plated another run to make it 6-0.
Appel allowed two hits, walked one and hit one batter, while striking out three to throw his first career complete game and improve to 1-1 on the season.
Lockery finished 2-for-4 with two runs batted in, while Martinez was 2-for-2 with an RBI and two runs scored. Freshman David Balunek went 3-for-4 for Central.
Joshua Lenig singled for the Mount to lead off the third for the first hit and Vaughn Parker hit a double with two outs in the seventh for the Mountaineers.
Chad Diehl started for Mount St. Mary's and allowed six runs, four earned, on 10 hits in 5.0 innings of work. He walked three and struck out four.
The teams conclude the series with a single, nine-inning contest on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.