Baseball Outscores Sacred Heart, 17-10, on Thursday

The Central Connecticut baseball team won its opener in the Northeast Conference Tournament, outslugging Sacred Heart, 17-10, on Thursday at Dodd Stadium in Norwich, CT. The Blue Devils raced out to a 13-1 lead in the first three innings and would hold off the Pioneers. Senior Buddy Dewaine had three hits and drove in five runs to power the CCSU offense.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: CCSU 17, Sacred Heart 10
Records: CCSU (25-12), SHU (22-24)
Location: Dodd Stadium | Norwich, CT
Pitching Record: W: Braun (9-1) | L: Babuschak (5-2) | Sv: - -

KEY MOMENTS

• Central scored 10 runs in the first two innings to build a healthy cushion. Senior Buddy Dewaine took the first pitch he saw and put it over the fence in left field to make it 2-1 in the bottom of the first. Senior Dave Matthews led off the second with a homerun and Central would bat around in the inning. Junior Jay Devito would drive in two runs on a single up the middle to make it 5-1. Following a pitching change, Dewaine hit a two-run double down the left field line and Matthews knocked in two more runs on a single. Freshman Michael Torniero closed out the scoring with an RBI-single to make it 10-1.
• CCSU tacked on three runs in the third. Freshman Noah Martinez drove in two run on a single up the middle. He would eventually come across to score on a wild pitch to push the lead to 13-1.
• Sacred Heart would score a pair in the fourth on back to back doubles. SHU would load the bases with one out before Martinez chased down a foul fly on the first base line and threw home to get the runner tagging from third to finish the double play.
• Central had runners on the corners with two outs in the sixth and would add a run. Devito would deliver a single to drive in a run and make it 14-3.
• The Pioneers scored a run in the seventh before batting around and scoring six runs in the eighth. Robert Farruggio and Danny Glendon each delivered two-run hits to cut the CCSU lead to 14-10.
• The Blue Devils would respond with three runs in the bottom of the eighth. Dewaine, junior Sam Loda and Matthews each hit RBI-singles to push the CCSU lead back to 17-10.

NUMBER TO KNOW

18 - Central posted its second-highest hits total on the season. All eight players in the CCSU lineup collected a hit.

NOTES

• Senior Andrew Braun started and got the win to improve to 9-1 on the year. He was charged with four runs on seven hits. He walked five and struck out five.
• Dewaine finished 3-for-4 with three runs and five RBIs. He finished a triple shy of batting for the cycle.
• Matthews added three hits and had four RBIs and a pair of runs scored. 
• Freshman Michael Torniero had three hits as well, as CCSU had six players with at least two hits in the game. 
• Devito had two hits, two runs scored and three RBIs. CCSU had seven players score two or more runs in the game.
• Loda's RBI single in the 8th gave every hitter in the Blue Devil a hit in the game.
• Central has 16 games of 10 or more hits this season.
• With the win, CCSU collected its 25th win - the 16th time head coach Charlie Hickey has guided CCSU to 25 win.

UP NEXT

The Blue Devils advance in the winner's bracket to face top-seeded Bryant at 2:00 p.m. on Friday.