University of Connecticut Athletics
Huskies Hold Off Central Connecticut
5/1/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Connecticut 6, Central Connecticut 4
Connecticut 2 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 6 11 2
Central Connecticut 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 4 6 0
C: Keith Potvin, Bob Barton (5), Erik Drown (5), Mike James (9) and Mike Leonard. CC: Scott Vitelli, Jason McIntyre (6) and Tim D’Aquila. Win - Drown (3-5). Loss - Vitelli (2-3). Save - Mike James (9). 2B- Russ D’Argento 3 (C), Bryan Maler (C) 3B- Brett Burnham (C).
NEW BRITAIN, CT (May 1, 2003) - Sophomore Russ D’Argento went 3-for-5 with three doubles and scored three runs to lead the University of Connecticut baseball team to a 6-4 victory over Central Connecticut on Thursday, afternoon at Balf Savin Field in New Britain, CT. The win improves the Huskies record to 21-20 on the season, while Central falls to 22-13-2 overall.
UConn got on the board with two runs in the top of the first inning. D’Argento led off the game with a double to left center field and moved to third on a groundout by Tony Mallozzi (Westboro, MA). He scored on a triple off the left-center field fence from Brett Burnham (South Windsor, CT). Burnham scored on a groundout by clean-up hitter Bryan Maler (Ansonia, CT).
The Blue Devils scored a run to cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the second inning. Tom Pezzello reached on an error by the second baseman and advanced to third on a single from Nick Macellaro. He scored on a wild pitch from Husky starter Keith Potvin (Pascoag, RI). The Huskies stretched the lead to 3-1 in the third inning. D’Argento led off the inning with his second double of the game. Mallozzi’s bunt single advanced him to third and he scored on a sacrifice fly from Burnham.
In the fifth, Connecticut got another run after D’Argento led off with a double for the third time in as many at-bats. Mallozzi’s sacrifice bunt moved him to third and he scored on an RBI groundout by Burnham, his third RBI of the day.
Central tied the score at 4-4 with three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Kevin Lorde led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a walk to Dan Tarnowski. Brad Muldoon singled to centerfield scoring Lorde. The runners advanced to second and third on a throwing error by the left fielder. Keith Stegbauer’s RBI groundout scored Tarnowski and Muldoon scored on a sacrifice fly by Tim D’Aquila.
UConn plated a single run in the sixth inning to take a 5-4 lead. Tim Dempsey (Marlboro, MA) walked with one out and went to third on a single from Mike Mocerino Northboro, MA). Dempsey scored on a single from Logan Richetti (Ponte Vedra, FL). A single run in the top of the seventh increased the lead to 6-4. Mallozzi led off the inning with a single and then stole second base. He scored on a single from Maler.
Erik Drown (Ipswich, MA) picked up the win for the Huskies as he threw 3.1 hitless innings in relief and Mike James (Roswell, GA) picked up his ninth save of the season to tie the UConn single season record that he set last year.
UConn returns to action this weekend when they play host to Rutgers at J.O. Christian Field with a double header on Saturday, and a single game on Sunday. First pitch both days is scheduled for noon.
