Baseball Downed in Series Opener at FDU Friday

The Central Connecticut State baseball team fell, 14-4, at FDU on Friday in the opening game of a three-game NEC series in Teaneck, NJ. The Blue Devils and Knights were tied until a five-run sixth inning put FDU ahead for good.

Antonio Ducatelli drove in two runs for Central, while Brandon O'Neill collected three hits and scored two runs.

GAME INFORMATION | BOX SCORE
Score:  CENTRAL CONNECTICUT 4, FDU 14 (8 innings)
Pitching Record: W: Messina (6-0) | L: Salvati (1-2) | Save: - -
Records: CCSU (14-21. 11-14 NEC), FDU (27-15-1, 20-5 NEC)
Location: Naimoli Complex | Teaneck, NJ

KEY MOMENTS

• FDU pushed across a run in the first, which was set up by Luke Russo getting hit by a pitch with two outs. He moved to third on a single by Garryn Plummer. Plummer would then try to steal to second base but got caught in a run down, which allowed Russo to score and make it 1-0.
• In the CCSU third, Louis Jordan drew a leadoff walk. Ducatelli followed with a homerun to centerfield to make it 2-1.
• In the bottom of the third, with a runner on first Hunter Ray would hit his first homerun of the day to make it 3-2.
• CCSU tied the game with a run in the fourth. O'Neill led off with a single before being pushed to second on a sacrifice. With two outs, Nick Fox hit a groundball, but was able to reach safely on an error that allowed O'Neill to score.
• FDU retook the lead in the fifth after a double by Russo would score Johnathan Gomez from first base.
• The Knights took control with five runs in the sixth inning. An RBI-single by Travis Stroh was followed by a three-run homerun by Gomez before Ray went back-to-back with his second of the game to make it 9-3.
• After a single by O'Neill to lead off the fourth, CCSU was held to one hit until O'Neill doubled with one out in the eighth. He would score on a single by Matt Graziose to make it 9-4.
• In the bottom of the eighth with one out, FDU would knock five straight hits including a two-run homerun by Ray. All told, eight straight Knights reach base in the frame and a bases-loaded walk forced in a run to push the margin to the run-rule at 14-4.

NOTES

• Ducatelli hit his third homerun of the season.
• O'Neill collected his eighth multi-hit game of the season.
• Graziose and Rob Natale each recorded a single.
• CCSU is 66-32 against FDU all-time but had a five-game win streak in the series ended.

UP NEXT

• The teams play again on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

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