BOX SCORE - GAME 1
BOX SCORE - GAME 2
West Hartford, Conn. – The Hartford baseball team closed out its series with Yale with a split decision on Saturday, suffering a 4-1 loss in the opener and receiving the first no hitter from a Hawks pitcher since turning Division I as rookie Sean Newcomb shutout the Bulldogs 2-0 in the nightcap. Hartford is now 4-16 overall, while Yale stands at 6-13-1 after Saturday's split.
Newcomb pitched a seven inning no hitter to lead the way in the second game of the day, striking out a career-high 10 batters, the most of any Hawk since April 25, 2010 when Chris Greiner also struck out 10 against Sacred Heart. Newcomb finished the game facing 25 total batters, handing out a pair of walks and hitting two batters.
Starter Alex Gouin suffered the loss in the first game. He finished the opener pitching seven innings and allowed two runs, one earned, on four hits and struck out two batters. Freddy Andujar pitched the final three outs in the opener, allowing two runs, both unearned, without allowing a hit.
At the plate, sophomore Brian Hunter led the way with a combined three hits over the two games. Hunter finished the opener 1-of-2 with one RBI, and followed that up going 2-of-2 with and RBI in the night cap. His RBI in the second game was the only of the game for the Hawks.
Hunter provided the power behind the Hawks first run of the day, sending his second long ball high over the left field fence in the fourth inning, providing the only Hawks run of the game. The home run for Hunter was his second of the season. Following the fourth inning, the Hawks mustered just one base runner over the final four innings, a walk issued to Hunter in the sixth inning.
The Bulldogs managed the tying run in the fifth inning, making a leadoff walk to Charlie Neil pay off. Neil advanced to the opposite corner on a one out single to right field off the bat of Chris Piwinski, which put runners on the corners. Neil then scored on the next play, an infield groundout to third base.
Yale then took advantage of three Hawks errors in the top of the eight, after Eric Schultz pushed the first game into extra innings. Schultz entered the game in the bottom of the seventh in relief of Bulldogs starter Chris O'Hare and sat down the first three batters he faced in order. Schultz would end up facing six total batters, retiring all six in order.
The Bulldogs never managed a hit in scoring their three runs in the eighth inning. Cale Hanson worked a leadoff walk to start thing off and quickly took second on a throwing error on the pitcher, a failed pickoff attempt. After a pitching change for the Hawks, David Toups followed that with a fielder's choice that left players on the corner. Both Hanson and Toups were able to score on the next at bat, the first of two infield fielding errors. Ryan Brenner would be the final run to score in the inning, also scoring on an error.
In the nightcap, the Hawks put their first run on the board in the first inning after Andy Drexel became the first base runner after being hit by a pitch with two outs. After stealing second, his fourth base theft of the season, Drexel was driven in on a shallow single to right center field off the pine of Hunter.
The Hawks would then leave runners stranded in the second and third before putting a second run on the scoreboard in the fifth inning. Junior Pat Knauth scored the Hawks run after working a one out walk. Knauth advanced to the opposite corner on the next at bat, a single to center field and a fielding error that put two runners in scoring position. He would then cross the plate on a wild pitch.
Hartford returns to the diamond on Tuesday afternoon when they take a trip up Interstate 84 for a date with the Connecticut Huskies. The Hawks and Huskies will play a single game on Tuesday, with the first pitch scheduled for 3:00 pm. The trip to Storrs will mark the first return to UConn for head coach Justin Blood, who helped lead the Huskies to their first NCAA Super Regional appearance in school history at South Carolina last season.
