Baseball Drops Doubleheader to Sacred Heart on Sunday

The Central Connecticut baseball team dropped both ends of a Northeast Conference doubleheader against Sacred Heart on Sunday at CCSU Baseball Field. SHU rallied for wins in both games, taking the first game 6-4 and the second, 20-9. The Pioneers were the designated home team for the games played at the Blue Devils' field.

CCSU slips to 8-14 overall and 5-5 in NEC play, while SHU improves to 8-16 overall and 4-5 in the NEC.

The Blue Devils travel to Stony Brook on Wednesday for a 3:00 p.m. contest.

GAME 1: SHU 6, CCSU 4

The Pioneers tallied three runs in the bottom of the sixth to break a tie and win the first game of the doubleheader, 6-4.

The teams traded runs in the first inning. The Blue Devils opened the scoring in the top of the inning. Senior Dean Lockery singled with one out and moved to second on a ground out. Sophomore Buddy Dewaine would deliver a two-out single to drive in Lockery and make it 1-0.

The Pioneers came back in the bottom of the inning to tie the game. Elijah Brown walked and stole second before scoring on Jake Frasca's single to make it 1-1.

SHU took the lead with a two-run third inning. The Pioneers would load the bases with one out and a walk to Isiah Daubon brought home a run and PJ DeFilippo hit a sac fly to plate a run and make it 3-1.

Central would rally with a pair of two out runs in the sixth to tie the game. Senior Mitch Guilmette got it started drawing a two-out walk. Dewine followed with a single before freshman Jake Siracusa roped a double to right center to drive in two runs and tie the game, 3-3.

SHU broke the tie with three runs in the bottom of the inning. The first three batters reached base before a sac fly brought home the first run and a double by Kyle Oliver plated to more to make it 6-3.

Seniors Nick Garland and Sean Udris singled to lead off the seventh for CCSU. After a pair of strikeouts, Lockery singled to drive in Garland and make it 6-4. The Pioneers would get a ground out to end the game on the next batter.

Central collected eight hits as a team, with Lockery and Dewaine having two each. Junior Mike Appel started for CCSU, but did not figure in the decision after allowing three runs in 2.2 innings. Sophomore Andrew Braun was handed the loss after allowing one run in 2.1 innings.

GAME 2: SHU 20, CCSU 9

Sacred Heart erased a one-run deficit with a 12-run bottom of the eighth to sweep Sunday's doubleheader.

Central opened the scoring in the first. Lockery doubled to left center and scored after a throwing error after Siracusa reached on a fielder's choice. The error allowed Lockery to score and make it 1-0.

Sacred Heart would take the lead with a three-run third inning, with all the runs coming with two outs. Frasca knocked a two-run double and Oliver singled in a run to make it 3-1.

The Pioneers followed with a five-run fourth inning to pad the lead. SHU loaded the bases with no outs and a sac fly scored the first run, followed by an RBI-single to make it 5-1. Dan Schock would double in two runs, followed by a sac fly from Frasca to close the inning's scoring and make it a seven run game.

CCSU would battle back with eight runs in the fifth and sixth innings to regain the lead. In the fifth, Siracusa tripled with one out and scored on a double by Udris. Garland followed with a two-run homerun to make it 8-4. With two outs, freshman Jeremy Sagun singled and sophomore Chris Kanios hit a two-run shot to right field to make it 8-6.

Three runs in the sixth inning would give the Blue Devils a one-run lead. Freshman Christian Layne led off with a walk and moved to third on Dewaine's double. Siracusa grounded out to score a run and Udris followed with an infield single to score another and tie the game, 8-8. Udris would move to second following a walk and after he stole third, a throwing error woudl allow him to score and make it 9-8.

The Pioneers broke the game open, batting around in the eighth and plating 12 runs. SHU recorded seven consecutive hits with one out. Brown had a two-run double and Matt Sorrento had a two-run single as well. Schock's three-run homerun closed out the scoring in the inning.

Lockery had three hits for the Blue Devils, who had 10 hits as a team. Udris had two hits, two runs and two RBIs, while Garland and Kanios drove in two runs each.