Winter Haven, FL ? The University of Hartford baseball team closed out its Spring Trip in Florida with a 9-8 loss to Big Ten foe #22 Ohio State on Sunday afternoon. The Hawks fall to 1-10 in 2009, while the Buckeyes stand at 17-2 overall.
Zach Hurley led off the game with a triple for the Buckeyes. He would be the first notch on the scoreboard, scoring on a groundout. Michael Stephens followed with a single and scored on a Justin Miller single for the early 2-0 lead. The third Buckeye run came on back-to-back doubles, from Ryan Dew and Michael Arp, to open the second inning.
Hartford's first run came with two outs in the third, starting off with a walk to Simon Kudernatsch and a Mike Amendola single to right field. Kudernatsch was then able to score on a single from Andy Drexel.
The Hawks had a significant chance in the fifth after back-to-back singles from Andrew Siano and Brady Stouffer put runners on first and second with no outs. Buckeye starter Ross Oltorik then forced a ground out on the next batter and loaded the bases on a walk, before striking out Drexel and Ben Sobocinski to end the inning, stranding three runners.
Doubles from Chris Griffin and Justin Miller drove in the two runs in the eighth putting the Buckeyes ahead by eight. Hartford then battled for four runs in the eighth inning, with three-straight hits beginning the inning. Amendola started the offense with a triple, scoring on the next at bat, a single to left from Drexel. Drexel then advanced to second on a singe from Victor Santana who pinch hit. Drexel scored a batter later on an error on the catcher, after Drew Sgro singled. Rodger Wilmot singled, which scored Santana and Sgro scored with two outs on a wild pitch.
After stranding two Buckeye runners in the top of the ninth, the Hawks battled for three more runs in the ninth, falling one short of tying the game. The Hawks loaded the bases with the first three batters on singles from Drexel and Alex Bulger, with a Santana walk. Bulger then scored on a wild pitch and a groundout from Chris Suchy allowed Drexel to score from third. The final run came on a fly ball to center field from Sgro.
At the plate, Hartford was led by Drexel who finished 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Also adding a pair of RBI was Sgro, who finished 1-for-5 at the plate. Amendola was the only other Hawk to finish with a multi-hit game, going 2-for-3. Brendan Floyd was credited with the loss for Hartford. Floyd started and went 5.1 innings, allowing three earned runs on eight hits with three walks. Matt Govoni, Mike Thatcher and Steve Sobocinski all saw time in relief. Sobocinski pitched the final 2.2 innings allowing the final two runs on four hits with a strike out, the only Hawks strike out.
The Hartford baseball team returns to West Hartford, CT looking forward to its first home game of the season on Tuesday afternoon, hosting Boston College at 3:00 p.m. at Cmapus Field.
