University of Connecticut Athletics
Baseball Rallies To Defeat CCSU 14-13
4/27/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
STORRS, Conn. (April 27, 2006) - A dramatic comeback earned the Huskies a 14-13 victory over Central Connecticut on Thursday afternoon at J.O. Christian Field. UConn trailed through seven innings of play, but a four-run seventh inning captured the lead and the game for Connecticut. In the game, junior Josh Farkes (Boston, Mass.) slugged his first career grand slam in the second inning to catapult the Huskies toward victory. With the win, UConn improves to 28-13 overall while the Blue Devils dip to 21-12. The win also extends the Huskies’ winning streak to two games as they head into an important conference weekend against No. 8 Notre Dame starting on Saturday at noon.
Heading into the bottom of the seventh inning the score stood at 12-10 in the Blue Devils favor. Senior Bryan Maler (Ansonia, Conn.) led off the inning with a single through the right side. He advanced to second on a groundout by junior Dennis Donovan (Center Moriches, N.Y.) and scored on a single to center field by Matt Karl (Wallingford, Conn.). With two outs in the inning, freshman Dale Brannon (St. Petersburg, Fla.) singled up the middle to move Karl to second. Senior Austin Wasserman (Nashua, N.H.) stepped up to the plate with two men on and drilled a triple to right field to score Karl and Brannon and take the lead 13-12. The Huskies added a security run with a single by junior Matt Untiet (Berlin, Conn.) that scored Wasserman.
The game began with eight runs in the first inning by the Blue Devils. Senior John Slusarz (Farmington, Conn.) was the starting pitcher for Connecticut and gave up eight hits and eight runs in two-thirds of an inning. Freshman David Bodge (Taunton, Mass.) came in to relieve Slusarz to end the first inning. Bodge went 4.1 innings and allowed four runs on nine hits. Picking up the win for UConn was junior Ted Garry (Rochester, N.Y.). Garry threw three innings and allowed one run. Karl picked up his second save of the season after pitching a scoreless ninth inning.
Farkes began Connecticut’s comeback in the bottom of the second inning with a grand slam deep over the left field wall. The four runs scored on Farkes’ home run along with another run in the inning cut the Blue Devils’ lead to 9-5.
Central extended its lead to 12-5 in the top of the fourth inning before UConn came back with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Untiet picked up his second RBI of the game with a single through the right side that scored Farkes. The second run of the inning was scored by Brannon on a wild pitch.
UConn cut the lead to within two runs in the sixth inning. Karl led the inning off with a single to center field. Farkes reached first and moved Karl to second after being hit by his second pitch of the game. Both Farkes and Karl advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch by Central’s Pat Dorr. Another wild pitch by Dorr scored Farkes and moved Karl to third. A walk by Untiet put two men on for junior Larry Day (Amesbury, Mass.). Day drove a triple into right field and scored two runs to bring the score to 12-10.
In the eighth inning, CCSU attempted a comeback of its own with a run that cut UConn’s lead to within one. Jay Schillaci reached first on a bunt to put a man on. John Romano followed with a single to advance Schillaci into scoring position. Scott Appleton sailed a single up the middle that scored Schillaci and brought the score to 14-13 where it would remain for the rest of the game.
UConn next takes the field in a battle for first place in the BIG EAST against No. 8 Notre Dame. The three-game series begins with a doubleheader on Saturday with the first pitch at noon.
Score by Innings R H E
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Blue Devils......... 812 100 010 - 13 20 0
Connecticut......... 050 203 40X - 14 12 2
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E - UNTIET(7); MAHONEY(9). DP - CCSU 1; Conneticut 1. LOB - CCSU 11; Conneticut 5. 2B - Memoli 2(8); Schillaci(6); Appleton(6); Walker(1); MAHONEY(10). 3B - Tri(3); WASSERMAN(3); DAY(1). HR - FARKES(1). HBP - Taha; Memoli; FARKES 2. SB - Tri(4); Brown(5).
