UConn baseball beats Quinnipiac University on April 17, 2017 at home with a final score of 4-3. (File photo/The Daily Campus)
The UConn baseball team secured its third-straight victory on Tuesday, defeating Central Connecticut State University, 7-3, in 10 innings.
Tuesday was originally slated to be the Huskies’ long-awaited home opener. Due to unplayable field conditions, however, it was postponed for the third time this season. Wednesday’s game was instead moved up to Tuesday and the Huskies made the short trip to CCSU Baseball Field in New Britain.
UConn (10-7) came in on a two-game winning streak, but also a bit of an offensive drought. Since tallying 12 runs in a win over Coastal Carolina back on March 13, the Huskies have only plated eight runs in their past three games combined. The bats finally got going on Tuesday, though it took until the 10th inning to heat up.
CCSU (3-8) seized an early lead, jumping on UConn starter Jeff Kersten for one run in the first. The Blue Devils could’ve easily added at least one more in the second, if not for a favorable interference call at second base, erasing a run and keeping it at 1-0.
The Huskies finally got their own run in the fifth through a sacrifice fly bt Christian Fedko, driving home Thad Phillips, whose evening was far from over.
Kersten went five innings, allowing eight baserunners but earning just one run to go along with a career-high six strikeouts. Kersten was then replaced in the sixth by Ronnie Rossomando. Rossomando was not particularly sharp, walking a pair of batters before serving up a 2-run single to CCSU’s Jake Siracusa to give CCSU a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth.
UConn responded immediately, closing the gap to one in the top of the seventh. With runners on the corners, Fedko beat out a potential double play ball, allowing Phillips to score. After Jake Wallace made quick work of the Blue Devils in the bottom half of the frame, the Huskies manufactured another run in the eighth, courtesy of a sacrifice fly from John Toppa to tie the game at 3-3.
The ninth inning came and went with the game still knotted at three, and so the Huskies headed to extras and didn’t take long. In the top of the 10th, Anthony Prato led off with an infield single and Troy Stefanski followed with a double. Isaac Feldstein broke the tie from there with UConn’s third sac fly of the game. Phillips, who had already reached three times, all but put it away, drilling a three-run homer, the first of his career, to give UConn a commanding 7-3 lead.
The Blue Devils went down quietly in the bottom of the inning and P.J. Poulin earned his second win of the season. It’s the Huskies’ tenth win of the season, with all 17 games played on the road, a new program record.
Up next for UConn is USF (15-6) on Friday in Tampa, marking the start of conference play for the Huskies. Snow is not in the forecast.
Andrew Morrison is a staff writer for The Daily Campus. He can be reached via email at andrew.morrison@uconn.edu. He tweets at @asmor24