Baseball Ends Season in NCAA Tournament in Loss to NC State
The Central Connecticut baseball team had its season come to a close in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday against N.C. State at Plainsman Park in Auburn, AL. The Wolfpack hit three homeruns, while allowing just a lone extra-base hit in a 12-0 win over CCSU.
The Blue Devils' season ends with a 31-17 record and their ninth appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
GAME INFORMATION | BOX SCORE
Score: CENTRAL CONNECTICUT 0, NC STATE 12
Pitching Record: W: Marohn (8-3) | L: Borghese (10-3) | Save: - -
Records: CCSU (31-17, 23-7 NEC), NC State (34-20, 17-11 ACC)
Location: Plainsman Park | Auburn, AL
KEY MOMENTS
- The Wolfpack opened the scoring in the first inning. After a leaping grab from Kyle Gordon robbed an extra-base hit, Josh Hogue drew a walk. With two outs, Alex Sosa hit a homerun over the batter's eye in centerfield to make it 2-0.
- NC State increased the lead in the fourth inning. The inning opened with a walk and a single before a wild pitch advanced the runners. Brandon Novy put the ball in play, which scored the runner from third. The fielder's choice attempted to get the runner at third base, but the ball got loose on the tag and allowed another run to score and make it 4-0. With two outs, Ryder Woodson hit a two-run homer to left field to make it 6-0.
- Central made a pitching change in the fifth inning, but the Wolfpack would load the bases with one out. Luke Nixon lofted a deep fly to right field that pushed a run across before NC State added two more runs in the eighth inning.
- CCSU got things cooking to begin the eighth inning when Bo Yaworski led off with a double to the gap in left-center. Gianno Merlonghi followed with a single to put runners on the corners. Ryan Marohn ended the threat with three straight strikeouts.
- Nixon hit a three-run homerun in the ninth to close out the scoring.
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
Charlie Hickey, Central Connecticut State head coach…
"In retrospect, the opportunity to come to a tournament like this, you're going to obviously play some good programs. But we had a great time here. Last night was special. Today was a classic case of baseball. Good pitching on their side, and every mistake we made, they punched us. I talked to a lot of reporters before the tournament, that 'extra out' thing comes back to haunt you. We had a couple of missed plays: the play at third base that should have been an out, and they got two runs out of it. That two or three run lead gets to seven, and we weren't going to get close with that guy (Ryan Marhon) out there today. But again, excited about the opportunity to come to Auburn. Our players will remember it for a long time."
#15 Aidan Redahan (2B) on facing NC State's Ryan Marohn…
"Just a credit to how well he (Marohn) pitched out there today. I think coming in from the left-handed side had struggle at times this year. We had looked to improve upon that and put good at bats together. At times, it seemed like we were hitting balls right at guys and just couldn't get it done at times. Couldn't connect the hits, couldn't get the timely hitting, couldn't get the RBI's when we needed them."
FULL CCSU PRESSER -> https://auburn.imagencloud.com/record/3864
NOTES
- Redahan singled in the ninth to close the season with a .455 batting average. He is just the third player in the NCAA since 2011 to hit .450 or better in a season. He extended his hitting streak to 11 games with the hit.
- Yaworski's double was CCSU's lone extra-base hit. Chris Brown, Kyle Gordon, Gianno Merlonghi and Antonio Ducatelli each had singles.
- CCSU won 30+ games in a season for the 10th time under head coach Charlie Hickey.
- The Blue Devils didn't have a runner reach second base until the sixth inning.
- Central was shut out for the first time since March 2, 2024 (10-0 at VCU), a span of 87 games.
- CCSU and NC State were meeting for the first time.
- The Blue Devils are 1-18 all-time in NCAA Regionals. The lone win came against #24 Cal in 2019.
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