New Britain, Conn. – The Le Moyne baseball team swept a series-opening doubleheader with Central Connecticut State University on Friday afternoon at CCSU Baseball Field. The Dolphins rallied for three runs in the top of the ninth inning for a 3-2 comeback victory in game one and a seven-run top of the third inning propelled Le Moyne over the Blue Devils in game two, 16-5.
With the victory in game one, Le Moyne clinched the fourth seed in the NEC baseball championship, marking the program's first-ever berth in the NEC tournament. The Dolphins will play #1 seed Long Island University on Thursday at Skylands Stadium in Augusta, N.J. at 12:00 p.m.
With the sweep, the Dolphins won their 10th (of 11) NEC series of the season, making them the only team in the conference to accomplish the feat.
Game One:
Senior shortstop
Adam Sullivan (
Syracuse, N.Y./Marcellus) led the Dolphins with two hits, including a solo shot for his seventh home run of the season. Sophomore designated hitter
Derek Diaz (White Plains, N.Y./Iona Prep) added a single and drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth inning. Junior right fielder
Jack Cannon (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) recorded a single, walked once and added two stolen bases.
Redshirt junior right-handed pitcher
AJ Petraitis (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park) made the start for Le Moyne, pitching 7.0 innings of work, allowing two runs and striking out seven batters. Senior right-hander
Luke Connors (
Brampton, Ontario/Heart Lake/Monroe Community College) finished the final 2.0 innings on the mound, allowing no runs, striking out three batters and recording his fourth win of the season.
Shortstop Gabe Tanous singled to begin the bottom of the third inning for the Blue Devils. Third baseman Louis Jordan then lined a two-run shot to right center field to give CCSU a 2-0 lead.
Sullivan and sophomore catcher
Robert Wegrzyn (
North Tonawanda, N.Y./Niagara-Wheatfield) each singled to put runners on first and second with one out in the top of the seventh, but the Dolphins were unable to push a runner across.
The score remained 2-0 until the top of the ninth inning. Sullivan led off the frame with a solo homer over the right field wall, his seventh of the season, to give the Dolphins their first run and make it a 2-1 game. Junior first baseman
Cooper Romich (
North Chili, N.Y./Churchville-Chili) then walked and Wegrzyn reached on an error to put runners on first and second with no outs. The next batter was retired before a wild pitch allowed the runners to advance to second and third. Diaz then lined a ball up the middle, which got past the shortstop and trickled into the outfield, allowing two runs to score and putting Le Moyne ahead 3-2.
Connors worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth inning to complete the 3-2 comeback victory and clinch a postseason berth for the Dolphins.
Game Two:
Seven different players drove in runs for the Dolphins, led by Sullivan who recorded a team-high four RBIs on two hits, including a triple, and walked once. Cannon drove in three runs on three hits, including two doubles, walked once and added a stolen base. Romich also drove in three runs on two hits, including a double, and walked once and junior second baseman
Mike Whelehan (Hilton, N.Y./Hilton) had two RBIs on three hits, two of which were doubles. Senior center fielder
Paulie Goodness (
Palmyra, N.Y./Palmyra-Macedon Finger Lakes Community College) drove in a run on two hits and walked twice and junior third baseman
Ethan Farina (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa/Saint Rose) added an RBI on two hits and two walks.
Freshman right-hander
Luke VanMarter (
Jamesville, N.Y./Jamesville-DeWitt) made the start for Le Moyne, pitching 6.0 innings of work, allowing three runs, striking out four batters and recording his fourth win of the season. Redshirt freshman right-hander
Mitchell Earle (
Cortland, N.Y. Homer) finished the final inning on the mound, allowing two runs and striking out one batter.
Freshman left fielder
Isaac Brozon (
Aurora, N.Y./Southern Cayuga) walked and Cannon doubled to put runners on second and third with one out in the top of the first inning. Sullivan then brought home Brozon on a groundout to give Le Moyne an early 1-0 lead. Romich followed with an RBI infield single to make it 2-0.
Walks by Diaz, Farina and Goodness loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the second, and a two-run single hit into left field by Cannon made it a 4-0 game.
The Dolphins plated seven runs in the top of the third inning. Walks by Romich and Diaz and an infield single by Wegrzyn loaded the bases with no outs, and Whelehan lined an RBI single to left field to make it 5-0. Farina and Goodness worked consecutive RBI walks to make it 7-0. Brozon then forced home a run on a bases loaded hit-by-pitch, and an RBI walk by Cannon pushed the Le Moyne lead to 9-0. Sullivan followed by lining an RBI single into center field before Romich lifted a sacrifice fly to left field to make it an 11-0 game.
Center fielder Gabe Pitts reached on a one-out single in the bottom of the third for the Blue Devils. He advanced to second base on a groundout before left fielder Antonio Ducatelli lined an RBI single to right field to make it 11-1.
Whelehan doubled and Farina singled to put runners on first and third with no outs in the top of the fourth inning. The next batter was retired before Brozon grounded into a fielder's choice, which allowed Whelehan to score and make it 12-1.
A walk by first baseman Matt Graziose and back-to-back singles by designated hitter Michael Quiros and shortstop Donte Valentine loaded the bases to begin the bottom of the fourth for CCSU. Second baseman Ryan Scialabba then hit a two-run single down the left field to make it 12-3.
A two-out RBI double by Whelehan made it 13-3 in the top of the fifth inning.
Sullivan lined a one-out two-run triple into left field in the top of the sixth inning to make it a 15-3 game. Romich followed with an RBI double to right field to make it 16-3.
Jordan led off the bottom of the seventh with a double and Ducatelli singled to put runners on first and third with no outs. Catcher Owen Arias then lifted a sacrifice fly into center field to make it 16-4. The Blue Devils loaded the bases before a sacrifice fly by Quiros made it a 16-5 game. Earle struck out the final batter of the game to secure the 16-5 victory for the Dolphins.
Le Moyne and CCSU will wrap up the regular season with the final game of the series on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. on the campus of the University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford, Connecticut due to CCSU's on-campus graduation ceremony.
