University of Connecticut Athletics
Baseball Drops Two To Notre Dame In Twinbill
4/29/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
STORRS, CONN (April 29, 2006) – Jeff Manship allowed six hits over seven innings and struck out eight as eighth-ranked Notre Dame won the nightcap 7-3, to earn a doubleheader sweep over Connecticut and increase their lead over the Huskies in the BIG EAST standings to three and a half games.
The Fighting Irish scored two runs in the top of the ninth, to win the lidlifter, 7-6.
The Huskies slip to 28-15 overall, and 13-5 in BIG EAST play. The Irish improve to 35-9, 16-1 in the conference.
Notre Dame nicked Connecticut starter and loser Rich Sirois (Ipswich, Mass.) for a run in the first inning, but the Huskies responded with two runs in the bottom of the frame. Austin Wasserman (Nashua, N.H.) walked and raced to third on Matt Untiet’s (Berlin, Conn.) single through the right side. Larry Day (Amesbury, Mass.) singled in Wasserman, and Untiet scored on a throwing error by Notre Dame.
The Irish took the lead with single tallies in the third and sixth, and salted the contest away with three runs in the seventh on the strength of four hits.
The middle of the Husky lineup struggled in the twinbill, as Day, Pat Mahoney (Des Moines, Iowa), and Bryan Maler (Ansonia, Conn.), the three-four-five hitters in the lineup combined to go just three for 25 in the doubleheader. Sirois drops to 4-2 with the loss, while Manship improves to 6-1. Mike Dury retired the only batter he faced (with the bases loaded) to earn his first save of the campaign.
In the first game, the Fighting Irish scored two runs in the top of the ninth to earn a hard-fought 7-6 come-from-behind win. Danny Dressman’s double (his third of the contest) scored Craig Cooper off of reliever and loser Ted Garry (Rochester, Minn.). Garry (3-2) had relieved Husky starter Tim Norton (Pascoag, R.I.) with one out and one on in the ninth. Norton had battled hard all afternoon, throwing 132 pitches while allowing five earned runs in 8.1 innings. He had seven strikeouts, but walked three batters, and hit three as well.
Mike Dury (3-0) earned the win, while Kyle Weiland earned his 12th save in the contest.
Connecticut had taken the lead in the bottom of the eighth when freshman Dale Brannon (St. Petersburg, Fla.) hit a sacrifice fly scoring Dennis Donovan (Center Moriches, N.Y.) Donovan had three hits and scored three runs in the game. Wasserman drove in two runs for the Huskies.
Connecticut scored first, plating three runs in the second. With one out, Donovan singled to left and advanced to third when Matt Karl (Wallingford, Conn.) singled to right. Josh Farkes (Boston, Mass.) handcuffed Notre Dame starter Jeff Samardzija with a smash right back to the box to score Donovan. Karl scored when Notre Dame second baseman Jeremy Barnes threw away a potential double-play relay. Wasserman scored Brannon with a single to right to put the Huskies ahead, 3-0.
Notre Dame took the lead with two runs in both the fourth and fifth innings, securing their first lead when Ross Brezovsky scored Brett Lilley with a two-out single.
The two teams will wrap up their three-game set with a meeting on Sunday. First pitch is set for 11:00 a.m.
