West Hartford, CT - The University of Hartford baseball team (6-12 overall) dropped an 12-6 decision to the visiting Connecticut Huskies in a mid-week tilt on Tuesday. Hartford was led on the day by Drew Sgro who scored two RBI on a 2-for-4 outing at the plate. UConn improves to 14-11 overall.
Hartford's Brendan Floyd suffered his second loss of the season. Floyd was one of five pitchers used by Hartford. Floyd pitched one and two-third innings allowing five runs, all unearned. Also seeing time on the mound was Steve Sobocinski, Bob Rogers, Heath Cotton and CJ Browne. Andy Drexel led all Hartford hitters with a 3-for-3 effort, while also scoring a run. Mike Amendola and Ben Sobocinski also picked up multiple hits. Amendola added two hits and Sobocinski added three.
UConn put runs on the board in each of the first four innings. They started things off with a pair of runs in the first inning. The first came on a fielding error in right field, while the second score on a successful sacrifice to deep left field from Peter Fatse.
The Huskies then scored three in the second inning, after extending the inning with a Hartford error. Hawks starter Floyd was knocked out of the game after one and two-third innings and after giving up back-to-back hits, the first a triple to centerfield, which scored a run.
UConn added another run in the third inning on back-to-back hits with two outs. After sitting down the first two batters of the inning, Steve Sobocinski allowed a single up the middle, followed by a double down the left field line, which scored Joe Pavone, giving UConn a 6-0 lead.
Hartford put its first runs on the board in the bottom of the third. Ben Sobocinski led off the inning with a single through the right side, with Adam Bowser following him with a home run over the left field fence, the second of the season for Bowser.
Connecticut answered with a three run fourth inning, made possible on three hits in the first four at bats. After a single from Matt Brunett, Pat Mahoney followed with a double, which sent Brunett home where he was thrown out from left field by Bowser. After the Hawks intentionally walked Mike Olt to put runners at the corners, the Huskies scored both on the next batter, a double to right center from Fatse, his third RBI of the game. Fatse would eventually score the third run of the inning on a passed ball.
Hartford's relief work from Rogers held Connecticut without a run for three innings, giving the Hawks a chance to eat into the UConn lead. Hartford began with two runs in the bottom of the fourth, this time with Hartford connecting on three hits in the first four at bats of the inning. Drexel led things off with a single to left field and Sgro sent him around the horn to score on his double to right center. Sgro would then score two batters later on Simon Kudernatsch's single to left center.
The Hawks then put single runs on the board in the fifth and sixth. The fifth inning run was made possible by three straight hits from Amendola, Drexel and Sgro, with Sgro recording his second RBI in as many innings. Ben Sobocinski provided the single run in the sixth when he sent a long ball over the left field fence, for Hartford's second home run of the game.
Connecticut's pitching then held Hartford scoreless for the seventh and eighth innings, while its bats provided an additional three runs in the eighth (two) and ninth (one) to go ahead 12-6. Both runs scored on the Huskies first home run of the game a bomb over the left center field fence from Fatse, scoring Mahoney who reach via a walk. Fatse finished the game with five RBI's on 3-for-4 at the plate. The final run of the game scored after Pavone reached on a double to right center. He would later score on a single through the right side from Pierre LePage.
The Hawks will open America East conference play with a four-game weekend series against the Albany Great Danes. The conference opener is scheduled for Friday at Albany at 3:00 p.m.
