Box Score NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Southern Connecticut State baseball team used a 15-hit attack to outslug American International by a score of 15-11 on Wednesday at The Ballpark at SCSU. Redshirt junior Matt Burns (Cheshire, Conn.) went 5-for-6 in the leadoff spot with four runs, two RBI and three steals to lead the offensive attack. Seniors Nick Baviello (Orange, Conn.) and Joe Breen (Nashua, N.H.) both went 2-for-4 with three RBI each. Brandon Docimo (Stamford, Conn.) and Ethan Joyce (Exeter, N.H.) each scored three runs for the Owls, while Jordan Picini (Attleboro, Mass.) picked up the win by tossing 4.1 innings of relief, surrendering four earned runs while striking out four. The Owls improve to 9-10 (2-3 NE-10), while the Yellow Jackets drop to 3-10 (0-2 NE-10).
Baviello got things rolling in the first inning, scoring Burns with a sac fly to center field to put the team up 1-0. In the third inning, Joyce scored on a balk to make it 2-0. Two batters later, Baviello scored Burns again with a fielder's choice and Breen added a sac fly to make it 4-0.
After an AIC run in the top of the fourth, the Owls blew the doors off in the bottom of the frame, using three hits and five AIC errors to plate five runs, taking a 9-1 lead.
Alex Wichmann (Granby, Conn.) had a double, while Baviello picked up a RBI single in the inning.
Burns scored
Jake Lieberman (Commack, N.Y.) with a two-out single in the fifth, before Breen singled in Docimo in the sixth.
Julian Sobin (Ansonia, Conn.) also picked up a RBI in the sixth on a fielder's choice. The Owls pounded out four more hits in the seventh to score three more times, capped by a double down the left field line by Breen.
Picini entered the game with two outs in the fifth inning and did not allow a run until the ninth inning, earning his first win in a SCSU uniform.
The Owls and Yellow Jackets are scheduled to play against tomorrow, Friday, April 3 on the SCSU campus. Weather permitting the two teams will play a doubleheader, with the first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m.
