MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Southern Connecticut baseball swept a non-conference doubleheader against Felician, taking the first game, 4-3 in 11 innings, and the second game, 10-1. The Owls open the season at 4-0, while Felician drops to 2-5 on the year. The last time the Owls started the year with four-straight wins was in 2011 when they opened the year at 21-0.
Tommy Hughes picked up the win in the first game after a 13-strikeout appearance out of the bullpen over 6 1/3.
Steve Phillips picked up the win in the second game after holding Felician to one run over six innings on five hits while striking out seven.
Andrew Eng collected three hits in the twin bill, with the game-winning RBI in extra innings in the first game. Zach Christofore was 3-for-4 with two doubles and six RBI in the second game, in his first career game.
In the first game, Southern Connecticut relief pitcher
Tommy Hughes made Owls history when he became the first pitcher in SCSU history to strike out 10-straight batters. Hughes struck out 13 total batters, the most for a reliever in program history and the most at Southern since Pat Egan sat down 13, as a starter, against Mercy on Feb. 20, 2015. In addition to Hughes feat, Owls starter
Mike Szturma also struck out six to give the Owls' pitching staff 19 K's in the game, the most since Apr. 19, 2019 against American International and just the second time the record had been met including an 18-strikeout performance by the Owls against AIC on Apr. 29, 2012.
Szturma went 4 2/3, allowing one earned run (three overall) while scattering four hits and striking out six. Despite the impressive performance in his first career start, Szturma left the game with the Owls trailing, 3-0.
Hughes entered with two outs in the fifth and induced a ground ball. In the sixth, he hit the first batter with a pitch before retiring the next three batters. In the seventh, he issued a one-out walk, who was then retired attempting to steal, and then struck-out the first of 10-straight batters to end the inning. He didn't allow another baserunner for the rest of the game, striking out the side over the next three innings.
With Hughes dominating on the mound, the Owls began to chip-away at the Falcons' 3-0 lead. In the bottom of the fifth,
Connor Goggin drove in two runs to cut Felician's lead to one, 3-2. In the seventh,
Zach Bedryczuk singled to lead off the inning, was bunted over by Bill Sullivan and then driven in with a two-out single by
Mike DeMartino to tie it at 3-3.
In the bottom of the 11
th,
Chad Fedeli reached on a field error by the first baseman and was then bunted over to second by
Zach Nakonechny before Bedryczuk walked. Sullivan lined a bullet right at the shortstop for the second out of the inning before
Andrew Eng launched a single to the left-center gap to score Fedeli for the walk-off win.
In the second game, the Owls were sat-down in order for the first three innings before Bedryczuk broke up the perfect game with a single to start the fourth. Sullivan then dropped down the sacrifice bunt, but was able to reach on a fielding error by Felician's first baseman. Eng then delivered with a double over the center fielder's head to tie the game at 1-1. DeMartino walked after Goggin struck-out before
Jack Drewry then struck out as well. Freshman
David Christoforo, seeing his first start of his career, then poked a double to clear the bases and give the Owls a 4-1 lead.
In the eighth, the Owls pushed across four more runs to take an 8-1 lead, all with two outs. After the first two batters were retired, DeMartino was hit by a pitch before the Owls strung together five-straight hits, featuring Christoforo's fourth RBI of the day, as well as Fedeli and Bedryczuk's second hit of the night. Christoforo drove in two more runs with his second double of the day in the seventh.
The Owls return to action on Sunday, Feb. 27 when they face Chestnut Hill University in their final game at The Ripken Experience in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
