By Chris McLaughlin

The CCSU baseball team pounded the Holy Cross Crusader’s pitching all game, before it  mercifully ended with a final score of 16-2.

The Blue Devils (14-12-1) started strong putting three runs up in the first and adding five more in the second. During the offensive explosion for the Blue Devils, pitcher Harry Glynne threw seven strong innings, giving up just two runs.

Mitch Wells and Pat Epps each had three hits and the team finished with 17. The Blue Devils were only held scoreless in the third and fourth innings and continued to pour it on late in the game. The win is the fourth straight for CCSU and keeps the team in third place in the Northeast Conference.

“Sometimes it’s just college baseball on a Tuesday,” said Head Coach Charlie Hickey. “We both came off four games over the weekend and we went through a lot of our staff and bullpen. It was a good day for us in terms of playing well after playing well over the weekend.”

Holy Cross (15-17-1) went down 1-2-3 to start the game and then CCSU began its onslaught.

An RBI double by Sean Miller-Jones scored two before he was knocked in by J.P. Sportman on a single up the middle. Holy Cross had its best chance to make it a game in the second, leading off with a homerun and then loading the bases. However, the Crusaders couldn’t capitalize, and stranded the bases loaded.

“They had some big hits and had some opportunities early, but it was good we were able to get out of them,” said Hickey.

After getting out of trouble in the top of the inning the Blue Devils drove Holy Cross starter Tommy Marra out of the game by scoring five runs. It started with a one-out walk followed by a single and an error that loaded the bases. Wells smashed a pitch into the gap in right-center, clearing the bases with a triple. Following Wells’ triple was Epps, ripping a double down the line scoring Wells.

“We had big starts a couple of times last week but we didn’t separate,” said Hickey. “Today we were able to put it out of reach the way it should be.”

With a seven run cushion Glynne started to cruise through the Holy Cross lineup. The Crusaders scattered seven hits through Gylnne’s seven innings but he still made short work of them. Glynne didn’t allow another run until the seventh inning and by that point the game was long over. The win is his third of the season and he remains undefeated.

“Harry [Glynne] executed well and threw pitches for strikes,” said Hickey. “He still needs to be more aggressive, but his seven innings were a success. When you get pitching and defense like that it becomes contagious and our offense really picked up on it.”

Though the Blue Devils were scoreless in the third and fourth the team continued to pick up hits. CCSU finally got to reliever Nate Walker in the fifth with one run on an RBI single by Anthony Turgeon which was followed up with two in the sixth on a single by Andy Lalli.

Unfortunately for Holy Cross pitchers, the Blue Devils weren’t done. Four more in the seventh made this game absolutely miserable for the Crusaders and the one more in the eighth certainly didn’t help the cause.

Perhaps the lowest point for Holy Cross was when its pitcher balked in a run in the bottom of the seventh, adding insult to injury. The Blue Devils did give up a lead off walk in the top of the ninth, but the Crusaders went down quietly after.

With a difference of 14 runs, the Blue Devils turned in its most dominating performance of the season.

“It was a good day at the ballpark,” said Hickey.

The Blue Devils are back in action on Wednesday at 3 p.m. for a home match up against Stony Brook.