Baseball Sweeps Coppin State in Saturday Doubleheader

The Central Connecticut baseball team swept a doubleheader against Coppin State on Saturday to win the weekend's Northeast Conference series in New Britain, CT.  The Blue Devils claimed a comfortable win in game one, 8-1, before getting past the Eagles, 6-5, in extra innings in game two..

The Blue Devils will return to action on Thursday, April 27, when they play Quinnipiac at Dunkin' Park in a 10:30 a.m. contest.

GAME INFORMATION | BOX SCORE – GM 1 | BOX SCORE – GM 2

Game 1 | Score: CCSU 8, COPPIN STATE 1
Pitching Record: W: Mozzicato (4-0) |  L: Nichol (0-4) | Sv: - -

Game 2 | Score: CCSU 6, COPPIN STATE 5 (10 innings)
Pitching Record: W: Garofalo (2-0) |  L: Ruff (2-2) | Sv: - -

Records: CCSU (23-8, 18-3 NEC), CSU (13-25, 6-12 NEC)
Location: CCSU Baseball Field | New Britain, CT

GAME 1 KEY MOMENTS

• Central scored the first five runs of the day's opening game. In the first, Dan Hussey led off with a double before a pair of walks would load the bases for the Blue Devils with one out. Aidan Redahan forced in the first run with a walk to make it 1-0, but Coppin State would escape further damage after getting an inning-ending double play.
• In the third inning, Hussey drew a walk to open the inning and he moved to second on a wild pitch. A two-out single by Derek Haughey brought home Hussey to double the CCSU lead. Redahan followed with a triple to the gap in right-center to drive in a run and make it 3-0.
• In the fourth, Jimmy Sullivan led off with a walk and stole second. With two outs, Hussey would hit a two-run homer to right center and make it 5-0.
• The Eagles would scratch out a run in the fifth inning, but that would be all they got off CCSU starter Anthony Mozzicato. The lefty did not allow a runner past second base until Brian Nicolas scored on Noah Murciano's single to make it 5-1.
• The Blue Devils tacked on two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Haughey led off with a walk and moved to second on a ground out. Three straight infield singles would score a pair of runs with Good and Short each driving in a RBI.
• Back-to-back doubles by Ramon Jimenez and Haughey in the eighth would round out the scoring.

GAME 2 KEY MOMENTS

• Coppin State scored a run in the top of the first to take an early lead in the second game, but the Blue Devils came back with three runs in the bottom of the second. Redahan led off with a single and would score on a single by Gianno Merlonghi to tie the game. Following a walk to put two runners on, Brady Short laced a triple to left field to clear the bases and make it 3-1.
• The Blue Devils' lead would be trimmed to a run before they plated a run in the fourth inning. Short would single with two outs and steal second to set the table for Hussey who singled to right field and drive in a run to make it 4-2.
• Coppin State would tie the game with a unearned run in the seventh inning and then got a run in the eighth after Josh Hankins led off with a double and scored on a two-out single by Angel Colon.
• In the bottom of the inning, Merlonghi led off with a single and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch. Elliot Good would extend his hitting streak to 16 games and plate the go-ahead run with a single through the middle.
• Nathan Burdette led off the ninth inning for Coppin State with a home run to left field to tie the game.
• Mike Torniero led off the bottom of the 10th inning with a double to right field for CCSU. Good followed and put a groundball in play that scooted under the shortstop into left field and allowed Torniero to score the winning run.

NOTES

• CCSU leads the all-time series, 5-3, between the schools which were meeting for the first time since 1991 this weekend.
• Mozzicato struck out seven across 7.0 innings of work and allowed just four hits. He won his fourth straight decision and has lost just one decision dating back to April 24, 2022. He has gone 6-1 across 11 starts in that time.
• Haughey was 3-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs in the opening game.
• Short had five hits on the day and went 4-for-4 with a run and two RBIs in the second game.
• Hussey had three hits, three runs and three RBIs in the twinbill. He hit his eighth homerun of the year to tie for the team lead.
• Merlonghi went 3-for-5 with two runs and an RBI in the series finale.
• Jake Neuman started for CCSU in game two and allowed just two earned runs in 6.2 innings. He struck out five.
• Good extended his hitting streak to 16 games with his eighth-inning single in game two.
• The Blue Devils combined for five stolen bases without being caught in the doubleheader.

UP NEXT

The teams will meet for a doubleheader on Saturday to conclude the weekend series. First pitch is scheduled for 11:00 a.m.

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