After a sweep just a few days earlier, the Central Connecticut State University baseball team lost 13-2 to the Norfolk State Spartans on Sunday, April 27, at home. This was merely Central’s second in-conference loss so far this season, and the loss snapped a 19-game conference winning streak.
CCSU’s Jacob Hines and Norfolk State’s Nathaniel Varnier would be the starting pitchers for the respective teams, with NSU batting first at the top of the first inning. No runs would be scored from either side during the first, although Kyle Gordon made things interesting with a base hit and an eventual steal.
Hines would continue the shutout into the second, and Norfolk State stopped any Blue Devil offensive attack with a double play to end the inning tied at zero. After going through nine batters with no issue, Hines struggled in the third and gave up two runs before being replaced by Richie Kerstetter, who was able to knock down outs two and three. Owen Arias led off in the bottom of the third and was able to score a double, and a stolen third base and an Aidan Redahan single led to the first Central run of the game.
Kerstetter kept the momentum going defensively, as despite an at-bat with eight consecutive foul balls, he was able to dispatch the NSU batters all in a row. Varnier continued his run with a perfect bottom of the fourth, and the NSU offense would begin the fifth with Terrence Rhodes taking a pitch to the helmet, eventually making it around the bases thanks to a base hit and a walk, making the game 3-1 in favor of the visitors. The CCSU offense failed to offset by the top of the fifth, where Brady Short was the only Blue Devil to record a hit.
To start the sixth, Kerstetter struck out two batters, but a costly walk and grounded single let a Spartan run home to grow their lead to three runs, whereafter Nick Murphy was called out of the bullpen to replace Kerstetter, already CCSU’s third pitcher, while NSU still kept with Varnier. A flier to right field would turn the inning around, where the Central offense gained a bit of life, as Bo Yaworski, Gianno Merlonghi, Antonio Ducatelli and Gabe Pitts all reached base, although no runs were scored.
Murphy stayed in as the pitcher to start the seventh before three consecutive hits and a run home forced another change, this time for Bryce DiPiero, and the CCSU fielders would help keep the lead heading to the bottom of the inning despite the bases loading. Nathaniel Varnier would be replaced by Mac Yarborough after his six-inning workload, who would himself be swapped out for Myles Crocker following two walked batters. Crocker would fare no better as a single from Aidan Redahan, and a fielder’s choice of Chris Brown led to Owen Arias scoring another run, and one more out would end the inning.
The eighth inning would see more bullpen struggles from the Blue Devils, as two more pitching changes were made while three Spartan players ran in runs, and no offense was found for Central to make it 8-2 at the start of the final inning.
Another Central pitcher swap was made in the beginning of the ninth, but damage had been done, as NSU drove in four more runs, extending their total to 13. CCSU failed to produce any runs in the bottom of the inning, and the game ended 13-2.
CCSU Coach Charlie Hickey had a lot to say following the loss, especially regarding pitching and overall aggression.
Hickey emphasized both the difference in record between CCSU (19-2) and NSU (2-19) and Friday’s sweep and said that the team thought the game would be easy.
He also praised Varnier’s pitching for NSU in the game.
“Their kid on the mound competed very hard and did not give us extra opportunities that we’ve gotten over the past month,” he said. “To their credit, they grinded and grinded, and every opportunity they got to spread out the lead, they did.”
Hickey mentioned that it wasn’t a bad thing for them to experience dropping a game to a team that came into the day with just a single win on the season.
“We’re [going to] have to continue to develop some guys in our bullpen. [The score] got to the 5-2 and [we] never got another shot at them,” he said. “That was probably the most glaring thing we got exposed to today. To their credit, they expanded the lead and put the game away.”
Gianno Merlonghi was honored with an NEC Prime Performer award for his gameplay in the past week of play on April 29.
Sunday afternoon’s contest was the third game in New Britain between the Blue Devils and Spartans within three days, as the doubleheader on April 25 would see two CCSU victories, one in seven innings. Game one was a high-scoring affair as CCSU put up 13 runs to NSU’s two, with third baseman Chris Brown’s three runs being the highest of anyone on the field. Game two was a more subdued contest, as Vincent Borghese pitched 6 innings for Central and only allowed seven hits, while the offense was bolstered by a two-hit game from Gianno Merlonghi.
The Blue Devils remain top of the conference, one game clear of second place LIU. They will return to action on May 2 with the first of three away games at Wagner University. They will play again in New Britain on Friday, May 9, against Stonehill.
