Baseball Drops 9-5 Decision to Seton Hall in First Game of Weekend
Series
Seton Hall vs Connecticut (Apr 18, 2008)
STORRS, Conn.
(April 18, 2008)
— A three-run homerun in the fourth inning by freshman
Mike Olt (Branford, Conn.) was not enough as the
University of Connecticut baseball team fell to BIG EAST opponent
Seton Hall 9-5 on Friday afternoon at J.O. Christian Field.
UConn drops to 19-20 overall this season and
6-10 in BIG EAST play. With the victory, Seton Hall improves to
24-13 on the year and 11-5 in conference action.
Seton Hall got on the board early as Mark
Pappas singled to centerfield but was able to advance into scoring
position as UConn center fielder Harold Brantley, Jr. (Silver
Spring, Md.) misplayed the ball. Pappas then scored on a two-out
Chris Affinito base hit through the left side of the infield to put
the Pirates up 1-0.
Mike Nemeth (Washington, N.J.) recorded
the Huskies first hit of the game in the bottom of the second inning
as he hit his ninth double of the season off the right field wall.
Brantley added a base hit in the third and tried to advance to third
on an infield groundout by Gordon Stevens (Vista, Calif.) but
still posted the Huskies second hit of the game.
In the fourth inning, Seton Hall picked up
three runs as Dan Lopez hit a three-run shot over the left field
wall into the UConn bullpen. But the Huskies used a fourth inning
rally to cut the lead to one at 4-3 as freshman Mike Olt
(Branford, Conn.) recorded his team-leading ninth homerun of the
season. Olt’s shot over the centerfield wall scored Elliot Glynn
(Los Alamitos, Calif.) from third and Pat Mahoney (Des
Moines, Iowa) from first.
The Huskies saw some trouble in the top of the
fifth as Seton Hall had the bases loaded with one out. But a
double-play by the UConn defense ended the inning with just one run
scored as the Pirates took a 5-3 lead.
UConn pulled to within 5-4 in the bottom of the
fifth, answering back with one run. Stevens led off the inning with
a single up the middle before LePage was hit by a pitch to put
runners on first and second. Stevens scored on the next hit by
Glynn, as LePage was thrown out at third by Seton Hall
centerfielder, Dan Lopez.
In the top of the sixth, the Pirates recorded
another run as a single by Affinito was able to advance runners to
load the bases, but an extra throw to second to try to catch Matt
Smedburg on a lengthy turn around the base, resulted in the ball
carrying into the outfield, giving the Pirates the opportunity to
score another run. The Pirates added two more runs as Chris
Spagnuolo singled to left field followed by a Huskies’ fielding
error to score the Pirates’ second and third runs of the inning.
Seton Hall threatened in the top of the eighth
as the Pirates put runners on the corners with one out. UConn
pitcher Doug Jennings (Pompton Plains, N.J.) gave up a single
to Affinito who was able to advance all the way to third on a wild
pitch which was lost behind UConn catcher Doug Elliot (Rocky
Hill, Conn.). Seton Hall added their ninth run of the game as Greg
Miller singled into centerfield to score Affinito from third.
Elliot picked up his third homerun of the
season as he pulled a pitch over the wall in left center to pull
the score to within four at 9-5. Brantley followed with a two-out
double to right center but it was not enough as the Pirates’ Sean
Black earned his second save of the year with a strike out to end
the game with a 9-5 victory.
Joe Dirocco took the win as he allowed three
runs and six hits in six innings thrown. He also recorded seven
strikeouts. UConn’s John Folino (Quincy, Mass.) took the loss
to fall to 3-3 on the year. He went 5.2 innings while giving up 12
hits and two walks. Will Musson (Wethersfield, Conn.) went
1.1 innings as he allowed two hits while Jennings went 2.0 as he
allowed three hits and one run.
Brantley finished the afternoon with a 3-for-4
performance for the Huskies.
UConn will host Seton Hall on Saturday afternoon at 12:00 p.m. for
game two of the weekend series.
-UCONN-
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