University of Connecticut Athletics
Baseball Ties Notre Dame 1-1 In Series Finale
4/30/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
STORRS, Conn. (April 30, 2006) - After 13 innings of tireless play, the University of Connecticut baseball team tied No. 8 Notre Dame, 1-1 at J.O. Christian Field on Sunday afternoon. Based an agreement prior to the game by the coaches and officials, the game could not go on past 2:30 p.m. due to Notre Dame's travel plans. While no team recorded a win or a loss, the tie does break Notre Dame's 16-game winning streak it held during BIG EAST play. With the tie, UConn now stands at 28-15-1 on the season and 13-5-1 in the BIG EAST while Notre Dame posts a 35-9-1 season record and a 16-1-1 conference record.
Senior Nick Tucci (Medford, Mass.) started for Connecticut, coming into the game with an unbeaten 7-0 record and a 2.15 ERA. The right-hander pitched 7.2 innings and allowed just five hits. The one run scored during Tucci's time on the mound was unearned due to an error by junior shortstop Dennis Donovan (Center Moriches, N.Y.) in the fifth inning.
Both teams scored their lone runs of the game in the fifth. Notre Dame's Cody Rizzo was the first batter to reach the bases in the inning after being hit by a pitch. He moved to second on a steal during Craig Cooper's at-bat. Cooper was also hit by Tucci to put runners on first and second. A single by Bretty Lilley loaded the bases. Danny Dressman was the second out of the inning as he struck out swinging. A ball hit to Donovan should have been the final out of the inning, but the shortstop bobbled the play, allowing all runners to reach and for Rizzo to score, unearned.
UConn retaliated in the home-half of the inning with a run of its own. Donovan redeemed himself with a leadoff single. In the next at-bat, junior Josh Farkes (Boston, Mass.) was hit by the pitch, but it was ruled a foul-tip, and because it was caught by the catcher, he was called out on the play. Head Coach Jim Penders came out to argue the call, but the umpires did not change their decision. It was not until Farkes met with the umpires on his own, showing them his hit arm that they overturned their call and awarded him first base. After a fly-out by freshman Dale Brannon (St. Petersburg, Fla.), senior Austin Wasserman (Nashua, N.H.) came to the plate with two runners on. Wasserman singled up the middle and Donovan scored from second to put the Huskies on the board.
The two teams went on to play seven more scoreless innings. Both teams used a total of three pitchers. Relieving Tucci in the eighth was junior Matt Karl (Wallingford, Conn.). Karl threw 3.1 innings and allowed just one hit. In the 12th inning, Karl pitched himself into a jam with no outs and two Irish on. Senior Joshua MacDonald (Milford, Conn.) came in to relieve Karl in the inning. Karl had let Brett Lilley on with a single to center field in the first at-bat of the inning, which was followed by a fielder's choice bunt by Dressman. With his teammates on, Eddie Smith hit into a fielder's choice that put Lilley out at third. Ross Brezovsky singled in the next at-bat to load the bases. With the winning run just 90 feet away, MacDonald struck out Alex Nettey and forced Sean Gaston to groundout to end the inning.
The Huskies will be back in action again on May 9 at UMass.
Score by Innings R H E
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NOTRE DAME........ 000 010 000 000 0 - 1 7 0
Connecticut......... 000 010 000 000 0 - 1 9 2
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E - DONOVAN(14); KARL(1). DP - Conneticut 1. LOB - ND 15; Conneticut 12. 2B
- MAHONEY(11). HBP - Craig Cooper; Brett Lilley; Cody Rizzo; FARKES 2. SH -
MAHONEY(4). SB - Cody Rizzo(2); O'REILLY(3). CS - J. Barnes(1); FARKES(4).
