Baseball Downs Hartford 12-6

Connecticut vs Univ. of Hartford (04/01/08)

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (April 1, 2008) — Senior Pat Mahoney (Des Moines, Iowa) recorded three hits and three runs to lead the University of Connecticut baseball team over the University of Hartford 12-6 on Tuesday afternoon in non-conference action in West Hartford, Conn.

The Huskies improve to 14-11 overall this season as Hartford falls to 6-12 on the year.

Junior Matt Burnett (Endicott, N.Y.) led the Huskies to their 14th victory of the season as he had two hits and one RBI on the afternoon. Mahoney finished with a 3-for-3 showing while Peter Fatse (Hampden, Mass.) went 3-for-4 with five RBIs.

With two runs in the first inning, UConn began to dominate over the Hartford ball club. Burnett started the inning off with a walk and later scored the Huskies' first run on an error by Hartford's outfielder. After a pair of singles from Mahoney and freshman Mike Olt (Branford, Conn.), Fatse recorded his 24th RBI of the season with a sacrifice fly to score Mahoney from third.

The Huskies extended their lead in the second inning as again, UConn started the inning off by earning a walk. On a fielding error, senior Brad Olt (Branford, Conn.) advanced to third while freshman Joe Pavone (Rochester, N.Y.) reached first. Sophomore Harold Brantley, Jr. (Silver Spring, Md.) recorded another RBI on the year with a ground out to score Olt from third. Burnett followed with a triple to center field to score Pavone from second and later scored on a Mahoney single to left.

The third inning was no different from others, as the Huskies chipped in another run to bring their lead to 6-0. Pavone hit a two-out single and was able to score as Brantley doubled down the left field line to extend the UConn lead. But the Hawks were able to post some runs on the board as they recorded two in the bottom of the third. Ben Sobocinski led off the inning with a single through the right side then scored as Adam Bowser hit his second homerun of the season to bring the Hawks to within four at 6-2.

Mahoney and Fatse added two doubles in the fourth inning as the Huskies picked up three more runs to turn their lead into seven before the Hawks posted two more runs in the bottom of the inning. Hartford added another run in the bottom of the fifth to close the score to within four at 9-5.

A two-run eighth inning followed by an additional run in the ninth clinched the victory for the Huskies and extended their lead to 12-6. Matt Karl (Wallingford, Conn.) came into the game for Erik Turgeon (Palm Harbor, Fla.) on the mound and closed out the game, striking out one and forcing two fly outs.

Doug Jennings earned the win, improving his overall record to 2-0 on the year. He went 5.0 innings allowing 11 hits and five runs. Hartford's Brendan Floyd dropped to 0-2 on the season as he went 1.2 innings allowing four hits.

The Huskies will return to action on Wednesday as they host Boston College at J.O. Christian Field at 3:00 p.m. in a non-conference match-up.

-UCONN-