Baseball Finishes Out Series Sweep at Merrimack Sunday

The Central Connecticut baseball team completed a three-game sweep of its Northeast Conference series at Merrimack with an 11-7 win on Sunday in Andover, MA.  Ramon Jimenez and Dan Hussey each hit a pair of homeruns to help the Blue Devils sweep their fourth conference series of the season.

The Blue Devils will be back in action on Tuesday when they travel to UAlbany for a 3:00 p.m. game.

 GAME INFORMATION | BOX SCORE
Score: CCSU 11, Merrimack 7
Pitching Record: W: Wainwright (4-1) |  L: Broderick (0-4) | Sv: - -
Records: CCSU (20-7, 16-2 NEC), MC (8-22, 5-10 NEC)
Location: Andover, MA

 KEY MOMENTS

• The teams traded runs in both the second and third innings. The Blue Devils opened the scoring in the top of the second after loading the bases with one out. Hussey drove in Elliot Good on a fielder's choice to make it 1-0. The Warriors would tie the score on an RBI groundout in the bottom of the inning. Jimenez led off the third with a solo home run to make it 2-1. In the bottom of the inning, Merrimack loaded the bases with one out and singled in a run to make it 2-2.
• In the top of the fourth, CCSU managed to load the bases following a pair of singles and a walk. Jimenez would work a walk to bring home a run to make it 3-2.
• A solo homer from Scott Elliott to lead off the bottom of the fifth drew the Warriors even at 3-3.
• Central came back with three runs in the top of the sixth to take the lead for good. Hussey led off the inning with his first homer of the day. Following a single from Hunter Pasqualini and walk to Jimenez, a sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third with one out. A sac fly by Jeff Nicol and single by Michael Torniero each drove in a run to make it 6-3.
• After Merrimack got a run in the bottom of the sixth, CCSU came back with three runs in the top of the seventh. Hussey hit a two-run homer to right field to make it 7-4 before Jimenez followed two batters later with his second long ball of the day to push the lead to 9-4.
• The Warriors got a two-run homer with nobody out in the seventh to make it a three-run game but CCSU would score two runs in the top of the eighth. Nicol was hit by a pitch to lead off and moved to third on a single by Torniero. With one out, Good singled to center field to clear the bases and make it 11-6.
• Elliott would hit his second homer of the day for Merrimack in the bottom of the eighth to close out the scoring.

NOTES

• CCSU leads the all-time series 8-1 between the schools at the Division I level. Central has won eight straight meetings.
• The Blue Devils posted 16 or more hits in consecutive games for the first time this season and had back-to-back games with 10 or more runs for the second time.
• Jimenez was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and three runs scored. He also drew two walks. He leads the team with seven home runs and 37 RBIs on the season.
• Hussey went 3-for-6 with three RBIs and two runs scored at the top of the order. He ranks second on the team with six home runs.
• Pasqualini had three hits and posted his seventh game with two or more hits.
• The top three hitters in the CCSU lineup (Hussey, Pasqualini, Jimenez) combined to go 8-for-15 with seven runs scored in the game.
• Good had a pair of hits and extended his hitting streak to 12 games.

UP NEXT

The Blue Devils will be back in action on Tuesday when they travel to UAlbany for a 3:00 p.m. game.

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