Huskies Fall to Northeastern 9-6
Northeastern vs Connecticut (Apr 14, 2008)
STORRS, Conn.
(April 14, 2008)
— The University of Connecticut baseball team fell to
Northeastern 9-6 in non-conference action on Monday afternoon at J.O.
Christian Field.
UConn falls to 18-18 overall this season with
the loss as Northeastern improves to 13-16-1 with the victory.
Northeastern recorded four runs in the top of
the first inning as UConn’s Matt McDonald (Dartmouth, Nova
Scotia) struggled early in the game as three hits, three walks and
one error gave the UConn Huskies some early trouble.
UConn started their first at-bat with
back-to-back singles by freshman Pierre LePage (Wolcott,
Conn.) and senior Gordon Stevens (Vista, Calif.) but were
unable to score as Pat Mahoney (Des Moines, Iowa) grounded
into a double-play followed by a Mike Olt (Branford, Conn.)
strikeout. UConn gained its composure in the second inning as its
defense connected for a quick 1-2-3 inning.
Northeastern added another run to their tally
to go ahead 5-0 in the third inning on three straight hits,
including a Frank Pesanello lead-off double. Pesanello was able to
score the red and black Huskies' fifth run of the game as Chris
Guillemette lined the ball into the outfield. Frank Compagnone
picked up two RBIs as he was McDonald’s last batter of the game.
Compagnone singled to right center and advanced to second as UConn
tried to get Maquire out at third.
With two outs in the third, head coach Jim
Penders brought in freshman left-handed pitcher, Ted Hurvul
(Monroe, Conn.), to get the Huskies out of the inning. After hitting
the first batter he faced on his first pitch of the game, Hurvul was
able to force a fielder’s choice groundout to end the inning.
McDonald left the game after 2.2 innings, as he
allowed seven hits, seven runs and two walks. He takes the loss and
drops to 2-3 on the season.
In the bottom of the inning, sophomore
Harold Brantley, Jr. (Silver Spring, Md.) recorded his first hit
of the game, to improve his hitting streak to five-games. Brantley
then advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored as LePage lined
the ball into right center to give UConn its first run of the game.
LePage forced a lead-off walk to start the
bottom of the sixth inning then advanced to second on a wild pitch
by Northeastern’s Les Williams, then scored on a throwing error. Pat
Mahoney recorded a single to left field to move Stevens to third
after he reached base on a single and advanced to second on a
throwing error as well. Williams recorded his first out of the
inning with a Mike Olt strikeout then was able to force sophomore
Peter Fatse (Hampden, Mass.) to ground out to shortstop. But
with the grounder, Fatse’s hit was able to score Stevens from third
to give the Huskies their third run of the game. Mahoney also scored
in the inning as Mike Lyon committed a fielding error to give
Mike Nemeth (Washington, N.J.) first base with ease.
Northeastern added another run in the top of
the eighth as a fielding error by Olt left two men on with one out.
A single up the middle scored the Northeastern Huskies’ eighth run
of the game to take an 8-4 lead late in the game.
The first pitch thrown in the ninth inning by
Will Musson (Wetherfield, Conn.) was smacked over the left
field fence to put the Northeastern ball club up 9-4. UConn put
together a rally in the bottom of the ninth as Nemeth led off the
inning with a walk. Brantley singled up the middle to move Nemeth to
third and then they both scored as LePage smashed a double to left
field. But a Stevens strikeout to end the game gave the Huskies
their 18th loss of the season as they dropped their third
straight game to even out their record at 18-18 on the year.
Williams earned the win, marking his first of
the season while teammate Ryan Quigley recorded his first save of
the year. UConn's LePage ended the afternoon with a 3-for-4
performance while adding three RBIs.
UConn will host Hartford on Tuesday
afternoon at J.O. Christian Field for a non-conference match-up,
which is
set for a 3:00 p.m. start time.
-UCONN-
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