NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Southern Connecticut State University baseball split a Northeast 10 Conference Southwest Division doubleheader against Le Moyne, with the Dolphins taking the first game, 12-4, before the Owls' walked-off with a 7-3 in the nightcap. The Owls move to 16-5 overall and 3-2 in the NE10 while Le Moyne is now 10-12 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
Andrew Eng (Ridgewood, N.J.) homered twice in the second game of the doubleheader, including a walk-off grand slam to break a 3-3 tie and give the Owls the victory. For the day, Eng collected three hits and drove in five runs while also scoring three more. Bill Sullivan (Valley Cottage, N.Y.) collected four hits, with two hits in each game, while driving in a pair of runs.
In the first game, the Owls' defense proved to be the deciding factor in the game that resulted in only five of the Dolphins' 12 runs being earned after six Southern Connecticut errors. Le Moyne's Ty Syta also homered twice and drove in six runs for the Dolphins, beginning with a two-run homer in the first to give Le Moyne an early lead. After Le Moyne plated another run, Southern got on the board in the second inning when
Mike DeMartino drove in
Connor Goggin to make it 3-1. An Owls' error in the third made it 4-1, before the Owls tied the game in the bottom half of the inning.
In the third,
Chad Fedeli singled to the gap and then moved to second on a single by
Tony Zambito. Sullivan then drove in Fedeli to make it 4-2 before a failed pick-off moved allowed Zambito to score and make-it 4-3. The Owls tied it with Goggin's single that scored Eng. Two more Owls' errors in the fourth resulted in another run before a three-run fifth blew the game open, 8-4. Syta added his second home run of the game, a grand slam, with two outs in their final at-bat.
In the second game, The Ballpark at SCSU was gifted with a pitcher's duel as neither team scored until the fourth inning. Owls starter
Nick Guarino was perfect through the first three innings before giving up a lead-off single in the fourth. Guarino actually allowed three batters to reach base in the inning, before picking off two of them.
In the bottom of the fourth, Eng hammered his third home run of the season on-a-line over the the right field wall to give the Owls a 1-0 lead. In the sixth, Le Moyne led-off the inning with back-to-back singles by Drew and Brady Funero before Guarino was able to record two outs. After Guarino walked Drew Carroll to load the bases, a ball hit off the end of the back by Nick Nevins took a weird hop towards Owls' third baseman
Tyshaun Diaz, who was able to stop it but was not able to record an out. With the game tied, Syta singled to right field to plate two runs and give the Dolphins a 3-1 lead.
In the seventh, Dave Christoforo worked a walk to lead off the inning before
Izaiah Walker entered the game as a pinch runner. Diaz then singled to center field, followed by a two-strike single the opposite way by Fedeli to load the bases. Zambito was then hit by a pitch to scored Walker before a base hit by Sullivan scored Diaz and tied the game at 3-3. Eng then followed with a towering home run to deep right field on a 2-0 pitch to give the Owls the 7-3 win.
NOTES
- The win in the second game of the Owls' doubleheader was head coach Tim Shea's 498th of his career.
- Tony Zambito stole his team-leading 18th base of the season and the 76th of his career, tying him with Marc Potocsky '02 for the second-most stolen bases in program history.
- Zambito now trails all-time leader Nick Lamberti '19, who finished his career with stolen bases.
- Zambito is also riding a five-game hitting streak in which he's scored seven runs and driven in four.
- Eng, who led the Owls with eight home runs last season, now has a team-leading four home runs, as well as a team-high 25 RBI. He's now tied with Bill Sullivan with 29 runs scored for the team lead.
- Eng's two-homer day is the first of his career. He also extended his hitting streak to seven games in which he's 10-27 (.370) with three home runs, nine RBI and 10 runs scored.
- Chad Fedeli has hit safely in six of his last seven games while also scoring five runs.
- Alec Erskine took the loss in the first game after he was saddled with three unearned runs.
- Spencer Fox went 4 1/3 innings in relief, scattering four hits and giving up four unearned runs, all on Syta's grand slam.
- In his last 8 1/3 innings in his last two appearances, Fox hasn't allowed an earned run while scattering seven hits and striking out 10.
- In the second game, Nick Guarino took his first no-decision in seven starts this season after allowing three runs on five hits over six innings while striking out six and walking just one batter.
- Tommy Hughes improved to 2-0 with the win in relief after pitching a perfect seventh inning. Hughes has now allowed three runs on 10 hits over 23 innings in relief for a 1.17 ERA while recording 32 strikeouts.
SCHEDULE CHANGE
Due to the threat of inclement weather, Sunday, Apr. 3's doubleheader against Le Moyne will start at 10 AM instead of the previously scheduled 12 PM. Owls fans should refer to SCSUOwls.com for up-to-the-minute schedule changes.
