West Hartford, CT ? The University of Hartford baseball team picked up a 6-4 midweek victory over in-state foe University of Connecticut on Tuesday afternoon. The Hawks improve to 4-13 on the season, while Connecticut stands at 12-12 overall. The Hawks win goes to sophomore Matt Govoni who pitched 5.2 innings and allowed two runs, one of them earned, on three hits.
Connecticut put the first notch on the board in the top of the first inning, making the Hawks pay for an early error. Dale Brannon got the first hit of the game, doubling down the left field line with one out. He advanced to third on an infield ground out, scoring only because of a dropped fly ball in center field.
The Hawks put their first mark on the board with three runs in the bottom of the third. After seeing just one more than the minimum batters in the first two innings, the Hawks managed a leadoff walk and three hits in the third to compound their first lead of the game. Victor Santana started the inning with a walk, his fourth walk in seven plate appearances. Cory Beahm put a perfectly placed bunt down advancing Santana, who scored on a single to right center from Andrew Siano. Siano, who took second on an error during his hit, took third on a balk from Huskies starter Matt Barnes, which made it possible for him to score on an infield groundout, giving Simon Kudernatsch his first RBI of the game. Mike Amendola followed that up with a single up the middle and then scored on the next at bat, a double to right center from Andy Drexel.
The teams traded runs in the sixth inning. UConn did all its damage with two outs. George Springer started the offense with a single to center field and then stole second. After a walk put runners at first and second, Doug Elliott knocked in Springer, cutting the Hawks lead to 3-2. The Hawks took that run right back with Drexel leading off the inning with a double to left center. He then scored on what should have been a routine groundout for the Huskies, but a throwing error on the pitcher allowed Drexel to score from third.
Hartford added two insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Beahm led off the inning with a walk and then stole second. He scored on the next at bat, a single to right center field from Siano. Siano then stole second and was able to score two batters later on a double down the left field line from Amendola.
At the plate, the Hawks were led by Siano, Amendola and Kudernatsch who all finished 2-for-4. Siano led the Hawks with two RBI.
The baseball team will return to action this weekend when they travel to Binghamton for the conference opener against the Bearcats. The four-game series begins with a double header, a nine followed by a seven inning game, on Saturday. The team will reverse the order of game, playing a double header again on Sunday.
