The Central Connecticut baseball team scored three ninth inning runs, but came up short on the road at Wagner on Friday, losing 7-6. The loss drops the Blue Devils to 15-17 overall and 8-9 in Northeast Conference play. Wagner is 14-20 and 7-6 in the league.
The two teams will play a doubleheader at Wagner on Saturday, beginning at 1 p.m.
The Blue Devils struck with a run in the first inning. Junior Dylan DelaCruz doubled and eventually scored on an RBI single from senior Tyler McIntyre.
Wagner answered and took its first lead with four runs in the bottom of the third inning. Two more runs in the fifth made it 6-1 in favor of the home team.
Central got a run back in the sixth inning. McIntyre's second RBI on the game, this time on a double, scored senior Nick Palmisano who had singled with one out in the inning.
Wagner got a run back, and took a 7-2 lead, in the top of the seventh inning.
For the Blue Devils, Palmisano recorded a double and came around to score on an RBI single from junior J.P. Sportman in the eighth, cutting the lead to 7-3.
Central scored three runs in the ninth inning, but were not able to push across the tying run. Senior Bobby Migliazza walked with the bases loaded to score the first run. The second scored on a fielder's choice from DelaCruz, and the third on a sacrifice fly from Sportman.
Sophomore lefty Cody Brown went the distance for the Blue Devils, but dropped to 3-4 on the season. He allowed 10 hits and seven runs, but just five were earned as the Blue Devils made a pair of errors leading to two unearned runs. He struck out three.
McIntyre and Sportman each drove in a pair of runs in the loss. DelaCruz, Palmisano, McIntyre and junior Anthony Turgeon each had a pair of hits.
The two teams will continue the weekend series on Saturday at 1 p.m.
