Box Score
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - The Hartford baseball team fell to Central Connecticut State, 19-6 on Tuesday in a game that was marred by two rain delays. Andy Drexel hit his tenth and eleventh home runs of the season, the first Hawk to reach double digit homers since 2004.
It was Drexel's second consecutive multi-home run game.
The day's first rain delay interrupted a promising Hartford rally in the first inning, one in which the Hawks had a run in and two on when the clouds opened. Victor Santana drew a one-out walk and sped around to third when Mike Aldrich roped a double down the right field line.
Andy Drexel followed with a line drive single to left, scoring Santana and pushing Aldrich to third. Then, the rains came, forcing both teams to the dugout for an hour-long delay.
When play resumed, Drexel was picked off first base and Mike Amendola popped up to end the inning.
Hartford would score a single run in the second when Cory Beahm's sacrifice fly scored Rodger Wilmot. They added another run in the fourth on an RBI double by Andrew Siano which plated Matt Walker.
With ominous dark clouds looming and wind picking up significantly, play was once again halted after the conclusion of the fourth inning. Although the rain held off for the most part, the game was again delayed by twenty minutes.
The game became official after the Hawks went down scoreless in the fifth, but that was not before the Blue Devils tacked on nine runs in the top of the fifth.
Hartford added a run in the seventh when Andy Drexel smashed his tenth home run of the season. The ball just eluded the glove of right fielder Tommy Meade, clearing the fence and knocking into the protective netting behind the wall. Hartford has not had a 10-plus home run season from any hitter since Ron Acabbo hit 12 in 2004.
Drexel added home run number 11 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. His towering shot once again eclipsed the reach of the right fielder, now Brett Rosenblum, also plating Andrew Siano.
The school record for homers in a season is 18 by Earl Snyder in 1998.
The Hawks will close out the home portion of the schedule this weekend when they welcome Maine in for a three-game series. Hartford and the Black Bears will get started at noon on Saturday for a doubleheader, with Sunday's single game set to get underway at 1:00 p.m. following Senior Day festivities.
