The Blue Devils went 2-1 against the Long Island University Sharks, securing a series win in its home opener.
Central took the first game of the series on Friday, 5-3.
The only loss came on Saturday when LIU defeated the Blue Devils 11-7. In 40 at-bats, Central tallied 11 strikeouts, 13 hits and six runs batted in.
Senior Anthony Mozzicato pitched five and two-thirds innings, giving up only one earned run. Mozzicato struck out five batters and walked five.
Central bounced back on Sunday, defeating the Sharks 7-4. The Blue Devils stayed in control throughout all nine innings.
The offense came alive to lock down the series win. Central scored first and did not give the Sharks a chance to take the lead.
Junior Aidan Redahan harped on the importance of consistency at the plate.
“We hit in big spots,” Redahan said. “We came through when it counted, guys showed toughness in at-bats, and we got the job done.”
Redahan and junior Bo Yaworski both had home runs and led the team with two RBIs apiece.
“I think we definitely had some things that we’ve been working on come together this weekend,” Redahan said. “It was a good team weekend. It’s a good feeling to get the first series at home.”
Coach Charlie Hickey said the team fought some things throughout the series but caught some breaks to take two out of the three games.
“We caught a couple breaks early,” he said. “We had some guys come out of the bullpen, get some big outs and we’re fortunate to get away.”
Sophomore pitcher Drew Munn got the win on Sunday after throwing five and a third innings, giving up six hits and three earned runs. He struck out three of the 26 batters he faced. The Blue Devils went to the bullpen three times during the game.
The Blue Devils have been battling injuries early in the season, and Hickey hopes to see these impact players get back into action soon.
“We are short of a few players that are injured. We got a couple guys that are trying to get back out of the bullpen,” he said. “We got through two weekend series’, so we move on to the next without digging a hole too early.”
The Blue Devils will return home starting Friday, March 22, for a three-game series against Wagner College.
“The momentum is good,” Redahan said. “We are going to be able to build off this, and we are going to continue to iron out some of the things that we need to work on in practice. We are going to come back stronger next week versus Wagner.”
