Baseball Sweeps Norfolk State in Doubleheader Friday

The Central Connecticut baseball team swept a Northeast Conference doubleheader against Norfolk State on Friday at CCSU Baseball Field. The Blue Devils ran their conference win streak to 19 games after taking game one by a 13-3 count and then holding on for a 4-3 win in the second game.

GAME 1 INFORMATION | BOX SCORE

Score: CENTRAL CONNECTICUT 13, NORFOLK STATE 3 (7 inn.)
Pitching Record: W: Munn (6-0) | L: Blakeney (0-5) | Save: - -
Records: CCSU (23-8, 18-1 NEC), NSU (1-30, 1-18 NEC)
Location: CCSU Baseball Field | New Britain, CT

KEY MOMENTS

• Central opened the scoring in the bottom of the first after Brady Short led off with a double and scored on a single by Kyle Gordon. Two batters later, Chris Brown doubled and then scored on a single by Bo Yaworski to make it 2-0.
• Matt Falk hit a one-out triple in the second inning before back-to-back walks loaded the bases. Aidan Redahan would hit what appeared to be a grand slam, but a mix up on the basepaths found him get ahead of one of the CCSU baserunners. The play would go down as a three-run single to push the lead to 5-0. Brown would draw a walk and move up on a wild pitch before scoring on a double by Yaworski to make it a six-run game.
• In the top of the third, the Spartans took advantage of three base hits and an error to push across a pair of runs to make it 6-2.
• CCSU tacked on runs on a sac fly by Short and an RBI-groundout by Gordon in the bottom of the inning to make it 8-2.
• Brown would lead off the fourth with a walk before scoring for the third time when he scored on a double by Gianno Merlonghi to make it 9-2.
• The Blue Devils added two more runs in the sixth inning after Yaworski doubled in a run and then Antonio Ducatelli tripled in a run to make it 11-2.
• Justin Journette led off the seventh with a homerun to left field to make it 11-3. The homer broke the school's career homerun record (36).
• CCSU would put runners on second and third with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, before Redahan doubled to the gap in left field to drive in two runs to end the game.

GAME 2 INFORMATION | BOX SCORE

Score: CENTRAL CONNECTICUT 4, NORFOLK STATE 3
Pitching Record: W: Borghese (8-1) | L: Hampton (1-3) | Save: Cameron (3)
Records: CCSU (24-8, 19-1 NEC), NSU (1-31, 1-19 NEC)
Location: CCSU Baseball Field | New Britain, CT

KEY MOMENTS

• Norfolk State scored two runs in the third to open the scoring. After an error to open the inning, Jamal Ritter singled in the first run. He would score two batters later on a single by Robert Beatty to make it 2-0.
• Falk led off the CCSU third with a single and moved to second following a walk. A sacrifice bunt would move Falk into scoring position before scoring on an RBI-groundout.
• Central went ahead with a three-run fourth inning. Yaworski singled to lead off and was followed by Merlonghi who homered to left to make it 3-2. With runners on second and third, Short would put a groundball in play to shortstop that allowed a run to score and make it 4-2.
• NSU got a one-out homerun by Journette in the fifth inning to make it a one-run game.
• With one out and two on in the seventh inning, Wyatt Cameron came on in relief for CCSU. He would get a groundball and strikeout to end the threat. After a 1-2-3 eighth, he worked around a walk in the ninth to nail down the win.

NOTES

• Falk went 4-for-5 in the doubleheader, collecting three extra-base hits and scoring three runs.
• Merlonghi was 5-for-8 and hit his third homerun of the season.
• Yaworski had five hits, including three doubles and knocked in three runs.
• Drew Munn tossed 7.0 innings in the first game. He allowed two earned runs on 10 hits, while striking out five and collecting his second complete game of the season.
• Vincent Borghese allowed one earned run over 6.1 innings. He struck out seven.
• Cameron earned the save in game two, tossing 2.2 clean innings and striking out three.
• The Blue Devils have scored 10+ runs in 18 games this season.
• Central has collected 10+ hits as a team in 27 games this season.
• CCSU is 7-1 all-time against Norfolk St.

UP NEXT

• The teams will play the final game of the series either Saturday or Sunday, depending on weather forecasts.

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