BOX SCORE
Storrs, Conn. – The Hartford baseball team dropped its first of two mid-week games on Tuesday against the Connecticut Huskies 11-6 at J.O. Christian Field. Sophomore James Alfonso led the Hawks on the afternoon, going 2-of-3 at the plate with a pair of walks, while driving in one run. Hartford falls to 4-17 overall, while Connecticut evens its record at 11-11.
Austin Barnes suffered his second loss after allowing eight runs in one inning of work on the mound. Zach Ferris started for the visitors and pitched three innings, working out of trouble in all three. Ferris finished his outing stranding eight runners on base. Jared Dettman picked up his first victory of the season for Connecticut. Dettman pitched five innings, allowing three runs on four hits, while walking five batters and striking out five.
Hartford finished the game with eight total hits, six of which came from three different players. Joining Alfonso in recording a two-hit outing was sophomore's Brian Hunter and Brian Estevez. Hunter finished 2-of-4 overall, while driving in one run and scoring two. Estevez finished the game 2-of-5 at the plate.
Hartford opened the scoring in the third inning after junior Pat Knauth worked a one out walk for the first runner of the inning. He advanced to second on a walk to the next batter, Alfonso, and came around to score on a one out single to left field off the bat of sophomore Hunter.
The Huskies took control of the game with a four run eighth inning, sending 12 batters to the plate in the stanza. All nine batters in the order reach base safely at least once in the inning, while leadoff batter Billy Ferriter finished the half inning 2-of-2 at the plate with a pair of singles, one the left side and one throught the right side. Ferriter's second hit also drove in a pair of runs for UConn, the sixth and seventh of the inning.
Connecticut added three more runs in the fifth inning with Eric Yavarone, Tim Martin and Ryan Moore accounting for the three RBI's. Jon Testani, who finished 3-of-4 overall, began a string of three-straight hits for the Huskies, which led to their largest lead of the game, 11-1.
The Hawks chipped into the lead with three runs in the sixth and one more in the eighth. Hunter led off the sixth for Hartford with the first of two extra base hits for the Hawks, a triple to left center field. Alex Bulger followed him with a walk to put runners on the corners, before rookie Trey Stover singled in the innings first run on a ball through the right side. A single for Estevez followed up with a throwing error on the Huskies third baseman allowed Bulger to score the second run of the inning from second base. Stover would become the third run of the inning, scoring on an infield groundout.
In the eighth inning, a two out walk issued to Knauth came back to haunt the Huskies as Alfonso, who leads the Hawks hitters on the season, smacked a double that rolled all the way to the fence in left, allowing Knauth to score from first. That double for Alfonso was his second hit of the game.
Hartford would add one more run in the ninth before all was said and done. Hunter began the ninth with a leadoff walk, one of nine issued by the Huskies. After taking second on a defensive indifference, Hunter would score on the next at bat, a single to right center from Chris Suchy who entered as a pinch hitter.
Hartford returns to the diamond on Wednesday when they host the Fairfield Stags for back-to-back mid-week games. Hartford and Fairfield are scheduled for a 3:00 p.m. first pitch.
