The Central Connecticut baseball team won its opener to the 2013 season on Friday afternoon on the road at Navy, 7-1. Senior lefty Jack Greenhouse picked up the 10th win of his career and his first of the season.
Greenhouse pitched seven innings allowing just five hits and one earned run while striking out one. He faced just 26 batters and retired the final six batters that he faced.
The Blue Devils outhit the Midshipmen 16-6 in their first game of the season. Navy falls to 4-5 with the loss. Central is 1-0.
The two teams will continue the weekend series with a doubleheader at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
The Blue Devils loaded the bases with no outs in the first inning and senior first baseman Tyler McIntyre drove in his first two runs of the season with a single to center field.
Navy cut the lead in half in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI double from Greg Dupell with one out. Greenhouse got out of further trouble by retiring the next two batters.
The Blue Devils took a 3-1 lead in the top of the eighth inning. McIntyre led off the inning with a double and then scored from third on an RBI single from senior Mike Washburn.
Central scored four times in the ninth to push the lead to 7-1. Junior Anthony Turgeon doubled to lead off the inning and later scored on a throwing error by Navy. Junior Josh Ingham scored on a sacrifice fly from junior Dylan DelaCruz and classmate J.P. Sportman scored on an RBI double from McIntyre. McIntyre later scored on a double from sophomore Dominic Severino.
Sophomore lefty Brendyn Karinchak pitched the final two innings to earn his second career save for the Blue Devils. He allowed just one hit in two innings while striking out two.
McIntyre finished the game with three hits and his three RBI. Severino had three hits and an RBI. Sportman, Turgeon, DelaCruz and sophomore Ryan Beal each added a pair of hits in the victory. Sportman added an RBI.
The Blue Devils and Navy will play three more times this weekend. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m., and a single game on Sunday starting at noon.
Central is on the road for its first seven games of the season before hosting Connecticut on Mar. 12 on the CCSU Baseball Field.
