Huskies Split Doubleheader with Centenary

Game One Boxscore [.pdf]
Game Two Boxscore [.pdf]

SHREVEPORT, La. (March 19, 2005) - The University of Connecticut baseball team split a doubleheader with Centenary College on Saturday, winning the first game 11-4 before falling to the Gents 10-2. The first win extended the Huskies' winning streak to seven games before having it snapped later in the afternoon. UConn is now 10-4, while Centenary moves to 8-10.

In the first game of the doubleheader, the Huskies put two runs on the board in the second when sophomore Dennis Donovan (Center Moriches, N.Y.) tripled to score freshman Matt Karl (Wallingford, Conn.) and senior Russ D'Argento (Marlboro, Mass.) to give UConn a 2-0 lead.

Centenary then jumped ahead, scoring two runs in the bottom of the second and fourth innings. UConn then regained the lead for good when junior Tim Dempsey (Lexington, Mass.) and senior Tony Mallozzi (Westboro, Mass.) scored on a single up the middle by junior Bryan Maler (Ansonia, Conn.) to knot the score at 4-4. Karl then doubled to score Maler from first and push UConn ahead 5-4.

The Huskies built on their lead in the top of the seventh inning when, with Austin Wasserman (Nashua, N.H.) on base, Maler hit his first homerun of the season to put two more runs on the board and move the score to 7-4.

UConn then put the game away in the top of the ninth, when they scored four runs to increase the score to 11-4. Wasserman singled to get on base and then advanced two bases on a failed pick-off attempt. Mallozzi hit a single to score Wasserman. Maler then singled and Karl walked to load the bases for D'Argento, who proceeded to clear them with a double down the leftfield line that scored all three.

In game one, the UConn bats totaled 12 hits and were led by Maler, who went 3-for-5 with four RBI and three runs. Wasserman, Mallozzi, D'Argento and Donovan each tallied two hits in the game. Mallozzi scored three runs while D'Argento drove in three.

Freshman Mike Tarsi (Danbury, Conn.) picked up his first win for the Huskies when he came in for relief of junior Tim Norton (Pascoag, R.I.). Norton threw for four innings, but left with four earned runs on six hits. Tarsi pitched 2.1 innings with four hits, but held Centenary scoreless. Fellow freshman David Erickson (Stratford, Conn.) then entered the game and struck out five without allowing a hit in two innings. Junior Josh MacDonald (Milford, Conn.) made his first appearance of the day to finish out the game, getting the last two outs.

In the second game, it was Centenary who was able to get its bats going at key times as the Gents defeated UConn 10-2.

Connecticut scored a run in the top of the first, as Wasserman doubled to start off the game and then came home on a single by Mallozzi. But the 1-0 lead was brief, as the Gents scored three runs on four hits in the bottom of the inning to take a lead that they would not relinquish. Centenary added a fourth run in the third inning to move the score to 4-1.

UConn then scored a run in the top of the fourth to cut the lead to 4-2, but could not get anything going offensively after that. D'Argento scored the final Husky run of the day on a fielder's choice by sophomore Matt Untiet (Berlin, Conn.).

Centenary built upon its lead with three runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth, including a two-RBI fielder's choice by Jonathan Ahern.

Sophomore southpaw Rich Sirois (Ipswich, Mass.) took the loss for the Huskies, falling to 2-2 on the year. He threw 4.1 innings with seven runs, six earned, on 10 hits. Sophomore Pat Maguire (Chelmsford, Mass.) then came into finish out the fifth inning, getting the two outs but allowing three runs, one of which was earned. MacDonald pitched the sixth and seventh innings in his second appearance of the day, and Karl came in from first base to finish out the game.

Donovan had a perfect 4-for-4 performance in the second game, and D'Argento continued his strong offense going 3-for-4 with a run. Seven Gents notched multiple hits in the game, with David Kiefer, 3-for-5, three runs, two RBI, leading the way. Centenary's David McElroy improved to 4-0 on the year, pitching 8.1 innings and allowing just two runs.

Connecticut and Centenary will compete for the series win when the two teams play at 11:00 a.m. (CST) on Sunday in Shreveport, La.