Baseball Outslugged at #14 Oregon in NCAA Regional Opener
Central Connecticut fell at 14th-ranked Oregon, 13-10, on Friday in the opening game of the Eugene Regional in the NCAA Tournament at PK Park. The Blue Devils uncharacteristically gave up three unearned runs and the Ducks clubbed five homeruns to hold off CCSU, which was within a run in the middle innings.
Central will play an elimination game at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday.
GAME INFORMATION
Score: CCSU 10, #14 Oregon 13
Records: CCSU (28-14), Oregon (38-14)
Location: PK Park | Eugene, OR
Pitching Record: W: Ayon (2-1) | L: Fox (5-6) | Sv: Somers (11)
KEY MOMENTS
- Oregon took advantage of two CCSU miscues and hit a pair of homeruns in the first two innings to build a 4-0 lead. Following an error, Kenyon Yovan hit his first home run of the game to make it 2-0 in the first inning. Anthony Hall led off the second inning with a homerun for the Ducks and a wild pitch would score a run with two outs to make it 4-0.
- Central opened the third inning with three straight singles. Freshman Noah Martinez knocked in a run to get CCSU on the board. A walk to senior Buddy Dewaine loaded the bases before a double-play ground out allowed another run to score to make it 4-2.
- Central came back in the fourth with three straight one-out singles by freshman Hunter Pasqualini, junior Matt Bertochi and sophomore Dan Covino. Pasqualini scored on Covino's knock before Bertochi came home on an RBI-ground out by junior Jay Devito to get CCSU within 6-4.
- The Blue Devils got within a run in the fifth inning after scoring a pair of two-out runs. With runners on second and third, Pasqualini dumped a single into centerfield that brought home two runs to make it 7-6.
- Oregon scored in each of the first six innings. Hall connected for his second homerun of the day with a three-run shot to left field in the fifth to make it 10-6. After the Ducks added another run in the fifth, Zavala led off the sixth with a homerun to push the lead to 12-6. Hall would drive in his sixth run of the day with a single in the inning to push the lead to 13-6.
- Central batted around in the seventh and got a fast start when Matthews and Bertochi each doubled in the seventh. Bertochi lined his down the left field line with one out to score Matthews and freshman Jeff Nicol pinch hit to plate another run and cut the deficit to 13-8. Following a pitching change, Devito doubled to drive in another run and an error by the Ducks allowed Devito to score to make it 13-10.
QUOTABLE
"I'm extremely proud of our guys," said head coach Charlie Hickey. "We continued to battle and compete as much as possible. We just had a harder time keeping that offense quiet today."
NUMBER TO KNOW
12 - The Blue Devils first 12 hits of the game were all singles until senior Dave Matthews led off the seventh with a double.
NOTES
- Devito went 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs, along with a walk. It marked his fourth game this season, reaching base four times.
- Pasqualini collected three singles and drove in two runs, along with scoring twice. It was his second three-hit season of the season and he has an eight-game hit streak.
- Bertochi went 2-for-5 and scored two runs, while Martinez had two hits to extend his streak of reaching base to 19 games.
- The Blue Devils had all 10 hitters it used reach base in the game. Junior Sam Loda was the only starter to not record a hit, but he did draw a walk.
- Senior Brandon Fox earned the start for CCSU. He also started the Blue Devils' NCAA-opener at Arkansas in 2019. Fox would toss 3.0 innings and allowed four earned runs on seven hits with a strikeout.
- Junior Peyton Stephens tossed 2.2 innings of shutout relief. He allowed one hit and struck out two.
- Central piled up nine hits in the first three-plus innings. Oregon starter Cullen Kafka was pulled after 3.2 innings and four runs, marking his shortest outing of the year.
- The Ducks pitchers forced CCSU hitters to leave 11 runners on base.
- The Blue Devils have made it the NCAA Tournament seven times, including three of the last four years. CCSU owns an all-time record of 1-13 in the NCAA Regionals.
UP NEXT
The Blue Devils will face the loser of Gonzaga/LSU in an elimination game on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. Eastern.
