This past weekend marked the first series in the Northeast Conference for Central Connecticut’s baseball team. They had a tall task right off the bat, facing perennial conference favorite Bryant.

Entering the series, head coach Charlie Hickey said he was excited to see where his team stood up to the cream of the crop in the conference.

The Blue Devils managed to knock off the Bulldogs in one of three games.

The Blue Devils saw the best of the Bulldogs in game one on Saturday in the form of starting pitcher Steve Theetge and were only able to muster one hit off the ace.

Theetge struck out seven Blue Devils while only walking three. The only hit he surrendered was to sophomore shortstop Matt Bertochi in the top of the sixth inning.

Despite the lack of offense, the Blue Devils hung around behind senior starting pitcher Tom Curtin, who tossed six innings of one-hit ball, keeping his team within just one run.

But the Bulldogs got to Curtin in the bottom of the seventh, tagging him for seven runs on seven hits, in addition to a walk.

Even after the outing, Curtin’s earned run average (ERA) sits at 3.96, still a massive improvement from his 11.02 ERA from last season.

The Blue Devils managed to tack on three unearned runs in the top of the ninth, leading to the 12-3 final score.

The two teams met again for a doubleheader on Sunday, where the Blue Devils pulled off a tight 6-5 victory.

The bats woke up a bit, managing seven hits off Bulldog pitchers.

Strong pitching of the veteran duo Brandon Fox and Mike Appel kept CCSU in the game. Fox tossed 5.1 innings of three-run ball. Appel came in for long-relief duty, surrendering just one run.

Appel has acted as a starter in his three years with the team but has come exclusively out of the bullpen this season. A baseball to the eyebrow that required stitches slowed down Appel’s preparation, per Hickey.

Following the Saint Peter’s series, Hickey said he was unsure whether or not the team would work Appel back into the rotation or continue to utilize him as a long-man and weapon out of the bullpen.

The game entered the ninth inning tied up at five. A Buddy Dewaine single plated Chandler Debrosse to take the lead.

Dewaine was coming off a strong performance against Albany on Wednesday where he drove in five runs on four hits.

But the Blue Devils were unable to take the series in game three, falling by a score of 14-4.

Senior Patrick Mitchell got the start on the heels of a complete game win against Saint Peter’s. Mitchell was unable to repeat that success, letting up five runs in three innings.

The Blue Devils had a 3-1 lead in the third before the Bulldogs got to Mitchell for four runs in the bottom of the inning.

After a Dave Matthews sacrifice fly in the fourth, it was all Bulldogs the rest of way, with nine runs thanks in part to two home runs off Matt Shane in the seventh.

The Blue Devils will return to Connecticut when they travel to out of conference Fairfield before heading home for another NEC series against Wagner.