Baseball Rolls Over Hartford 15-3

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STORRS, Conn. (April 26, 2006) – With the help of six errors by the Hartford Hawks, the University of Connecticut baseball team snapped its mid-week game losing streak on Wednesday afternoon with a 15-3 victory. This was the Huskies’ second win in three games against the Hawks, earning UConn the series, 2-1.  Connecticut’s record improves to 27-13 on the season while Hartford drops to 5-30.

The Hawks took an early lead in the game with a run in the opening inning, but a home run in first by Austin Wasserman (Nahsua, N.H.) catapulted UConn into a scoring frenzy.  Connecticut notched 15 hits in the game, six of which were extra-base hits.  Leading UConn at the plate were Wasserman and junior Josh Farkes (Boston, Mass.).  Wasserman was 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI while Farkes was 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.  On the mound, senior Joshua MacDonald (Milford, Conn.) earned his second win of the season.  He threw five innings and fanned five batters while allowing seven hits and two runs.

Wasserman’s home run tied the game at one a piece, but two six-run innings blew the game wide open for Connecticut.  The Huskies batted around the order in both the second and third innings.  They tallied six runs on three hits in the second after Hartford committed three errors.  At the plate, Steven Malinowski (Kensington, Conn.) notched the first hit with an error-filled singled that scored two and moved him to third base.  An error and a fielder’s choice allowed Malinowski to score and put two men on base.  Wasserman recorded his second hit of the game to load the bases.  A passed ball scored freshman Scott Beckwith (Seminole, Fla.) and moved runners into scoring position.  A single to right field by junior co-captain Larry Day (Amesbury, Mass.) scored the final two runs of the inning to bring the Huskies’ lead to 7-1.

The third inning began with a rare double to the catcher by Farkes.  He would advance to third on a wild pitch during the next at-bat and score on an error by the right-fielder on a routine fly ball by Malinowski.  Beckwith followed with a single to move Maliowski to third.  A double by freshman Dale Brannon (St. Petersburg, Fla.) scored Malinowski and Beckwith.  A sacrifice hit by Wasserman scored Brannon in the next at-bat.  Senior Bryan Maler (Ansonia, Conn.) walked to put a man on.  He advanced to third on a double by Day.  Maler scored as he tagged on a line-out by sophomore Pat Mahoney (Des Moines, Iowa.).  The last run of the inning came on double to center field by Dennis Donovan (Center Moriches, N.Y.) that scored Day.

Hartford put up its second run in the top of the fifth inning.  Bill Perry doubled down the left field line to lead off the inning.  A single by Adam Bowser moved Perry to third.  Perry scored in the next-at bat on a single by Brady Stouffer. 

UConn extended its lead to 14-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning.  Beckwith singled to center field for his second hit of the game.  Brannon singled in the next at-bat. An error on the play by Hartford’s centerfielder moved Brannon to second and scored Beckwith.

Both Hartford and UConn scored in the seventh inning to being the final score to 15-3.

The Huskies will be back in action again on Thursday, April 27, as they host the Blue Devils of Central Connecticut at 3:00 p.m. at J.O. Christian Field.