DANBURY, Conn. — After a pair of close games decided in the final innings, the Western Connecticut State University baseball team split the doubleheader with Little East Conference (LEC) opponent Plymouth State University on Saturday. The Wolves lost game one, 10-3, and won a 10-inning game two, 10-9. WestConn moved to 7-17 overall and 2-8 in the league, while the Panthers are now 2-14 and 1-6.
The Panthers scored on a wild pitch in the second inning and took a 2-0 lead after four frames.
After being down by two,
Nick Lobuono (Trumbull, Conn.) led off the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run out of right field to ignite the scoring for WestConn — the sophomore's sixth homer of the season. Four batters later,
Peter Coniglio (New Milford, Conn.) brought home Bill Untiet (Prospect, Conn.) off a groundout to third base to even the score at two.
Ryan Vallie (East Haven, Conn.) scored for a game-leading run off a wild pitch to put the Wolves up, 3-2.
Andrew Faherty had an RBI single to third base to bring in Ryan Morgado for a 3-3 tie in the fifth. Faherty got in scoring position after a stolen base and a passed ball put him on third, but
Giani Chieffalo (Danbury, Conn.) caught a foul ball after falling back to the ground and helped the hosts get out of the inning still tied.
The score remained knotted at three until the top of the ninth inning as PSU put up seven runs. Plymouth State started the top of the ninth with a single through the left side, before a sacrifice bunt and an error by the pitcher put two on the bags. At the next at bat, what should have been another sac bunt for an out resulted in a bunt single as four Wolves converged on the ball, but no one touched it to get the out and loaded the bases. WestConn nabbed the first out of the inning after
Justin Reo (Plainview, N.Y.) threw to
Anthony Marsala (Beacon Falls, Conn.) behind the plate to get Brayden Michaelson out at home. Owen Webber took a ball to the body to bring in the eventual game-winning run and kickstarted the visitors' 7-0 scoring stretch.
The Panthers had a lead-off hit in six straight innings, starting in the fourth frame.
In game two, PSU took a three-run lead through three before
Bryan Birkl (Farmingdale, N.Y.) ignited the scoring for the Wolves off an RBI single to allow
Mitch Landau (Northport, N.Y.) to put the home team on the board in the third. Three batters later, Vallie singled to center field as Birkl scored, followed by the game-tying run by
Thomas Keough (Plainville, Conn.) off an error by third base off a double steal attempt. Lobuono gave the Wolves the 4-3 lead.
A sacrifice fly by Maddox Turck again evened the score at four in the sixth as Ray Campbell crossed the plate. The lead was short-lived as
Joe Fasano's (Waterbury, Conn.) RBI single to left field sent
Josef Rosa (Fort Lee, N.J.) home. In the top of the seventh, Sam Salvi singled to right field as Webber scored the game-tying run.
With the bases loaded after relief pitcher
Braden Barron (Southington, Conn.) intentionally walked Campbell, but an incredible 643 double play allowed the Wolves to get out of the inning unscathed. Back-to-back errors in the seventh gave WestConn the two-run lead as Keough scored on a wild pitch and Lobuono came home on an error by the right fielder. The Wolves' defense remained hot at the top of the eighth with a 143 double play, followed by a fly out to Fasano to get out of the inning quickly.
Four runs in the top of the ninth gave the Panthers the 9-7 lead. WestConn knotted the game as Vallie came home and Fasano scored on an error by the shortstop to force extra innings.
Ryan Neville retired three straight in the top of the 10th off a strike looking and two consecutive pop-up fouls to Keough at first base.
With the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the 10th, Rosa had a walk-off walk as Keough scored the game-winning run.
The teams entered game one with an all-time record tied at 32, with the Panthers having won six straight against the Wolves. WestConn snapped the winning streak after taking game two.
WestConn remains at home as they host in-state LEC rival Eastern Connecticut State University on April 14 for a 3:30 p.m. game at the Westside Baseball Stadium.
