Baseball Wins NEC Championship #9 on Sunday

The Central Connecticut baseball team won its ninth Northeast Conference championship with a 6-5 win in 12 innings in the deciding game on Sunday at Heritage Financial Park in Wappingers Falls, NY on Sunday.

Wyatt Cameron was named Tournament MVP, while Vincent Borghese, Antonio Ducatelli and Kyle Gordon were named to the All-Tournament team.

In the day's first game, the third-seeded Blue Devils rallied to tie the game in the ninth, but the top-seeded Sharks would push across the winning run in the bottom of the ninth to set up a decisive winner-take-all matchup.

GAME 1 INFORMATION | BOX SCORE

Score: CENTRAL CONNECTICUT 7, LIU 8
Pitching Record: W: Kassebaum (1-0) | L: Cameron (2-2) | Save: - -
Records: CCSU (30-15, 23-7 NEC), LIU (35-22, 24-6)
Location: Heritage Financial Park | Wappingers Falls, NY

KEY MOMENTS

• The Sharks drew blood first, scoring six runs in the bottom of the first. Jacob Pipercic singled before stealing second and taking third on a throwing error. Ben Fierenzi would single in the first run and was followed by a homerun by Jack Power to make it 3-0. LIU added a pair of runs on back-to-back singles to push the lead to five runs and loaded the bases with two outs to force a pitching change. A bases-loaded walk would push across one more run before a strikeout ended the inning.
• The Blue Devils got a run back in the top of the second. Gianno Merlonghi would lace a one-out triple to the right field corner Antonio Ducatelli would single back up the middle to drive in Merlonghi and make it 6-1.
• LIU drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the inning. Max Samson followed with a double to the gap in right field to drive in a run and make it 7-1.
• CCSU would begin its long rally back when Kyle Gordon was hit by a pitch with two outs to extend the fourth inning. Matt Falk followed with a double off the wall in left field to drive in the run and make it 7-2.
• The Blue Devils put their first two batters on against LIU's Garrett Yawn in the seventh. A sac fly would move the runners to the corners before a fly ball to right field set up a sac fly, but Chandler Ketchup made a good throw to cut down the runner at home to end the inning.
• CCSU would manage to add two runs in the eighth inning after Chris Brown walked and moved to third on a Merlonghi double. Ducatelli would loft a fly ball to centerfield to score a run on the sac fly. Kyle Gordon followed with a double to centerfield to plate another run and make it 7-4.
• Central would rally to tie the game in the ninth. The Blue Devils loaded the bases with no outs and Brown would drive in the first run on a sac fly. Bo Yaworski and Merlonghi followed with back-to-back singles to drive in two more runs and tie the game at 7-7. The Sharks would make a pitching change and get out of the inning, leaving the bases loaded.
• LIU would put the leadoff runner on base due to an error. A wild pitch would allow the runner to advance two bases to third base. Ryan Rivera would hit a fly ball deep enough to centerfield to allow the winning run to score.

GAME 2 INFORMATION | BOX SCORE

Score: CENTRAL CONNECTICUT 6, LIU 5 (12 inn.)
Pitching Record: W: Cameron (3-1) | L: Kassebaum (1-1) | Save: - -
Records: CCSU (31-15, 23-7 NEC), LIU (35-23, 24-6)
Location: Heritage Financial Park | Wappingers Falls, NY

KEY MOMENTS

• Brady Short led off the game with a single to left field and he moved to second on a wild pitch. Colby Brouillette doubled down the left field line to drive in the first run before he scored on a single by Redahan to make it 2-0. Brown would loop a double down the right field line  to drive in another run before forcing an LIU pitching change.
• LIU got a run in the bottom of the inning after Pipercic led off with a triple before scoring on a groundout by Fierenzi to go 3-1.
• The Sharks plated a run in the third to get within a run. Noah Sorenson led off with a double and would score on a single to right by Max Samson, sliding into home just ahead of the tag.
• LIU edged ahead with two outs in the fourth inning. After the first two batters were retired, Joseph Durso singled and Samson followed with a double. Jarod Wade would make it three straight hits with a single to the gap in left-center to drive in two runs and make it 4-3.
• CCSU answered in the top of the fifth. Short roped a one-out double to right field and he would come home on a two-out double by Redahan to make it 4-4.
• In the sixth, Merlonghi hit a double to left field with one out. He scored on the next batter when Ducatelli laced a double to left field to put the Blue Devils ahead to make it 5-4.
• The Sharks would draw a pair of walks in the eighth and put runners on second and third with two outs. Samson singled through the left side to drive in the tying run, but Ducatelli would throw out the go-ahead run at home on the play.
• Torin Kassenbaum came on to pitch for LIU with two outs in the sixth and didn't allow a CCSU hit until Matt Falk led off the top of the 12^th with a single. After a groundout, Jackson Haker would single through the left side to put two runners on base for the middle of the order. With two outs and runners on the corners, LIU appeared to get a swinging strike three but the ball was in the dirt and got away from the catcher which allowed Short to score the winning run.

NOTES

• Cameron tossed 4.2 shutout innings in the final game. He allowed three hits and struck out three. He had a 1.74 ERA in four games, going 1-1 and tossing 10.1 innings on the weekend.
• Short had two hits and scored three runs in the decisive game.
• Redahan had two hits and two RBIs, while Ducatelli added two hits and an RBI in the win.
• Mason McCarroll and Alexander Kasbarian came on in relief in the first game and combined to throw 7.1 innings, allowing just one run on two hits with three strikeouts.
• Vincent Borghese started the decisive game and went 7.1 innings. He scattered nine hits and struck out four, while walking just one.
• Central was appearing in its 11^th NEC Tournament championship round. The Blue Devils are 9-2 in title games.
• CCSU has played a decisive game seven in seven NEC Tournaments, going 6-1.
• Central is 3-2 all-time in extra inning games in the NEC Tournament.
• Central has collected 10+ hits as a team in 36 games this season. 
• The teams were meeting for the fourth time in the NEC Tournament. CCSU is 3-1 in tournament meetings.

UP NEXT

• The NCAA Tournament bracket will be announced on Monday at Noon.

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