Box Score WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – In its only mid-week action the University of Hartford baseball team dropped a 4-2 decision to the visiting Army Black Knights on Wednesday afternoon at Fiondella Field. The Hawks were led by senior catcher James Alfonso who finished 2-of-3 at the plate, including a double. Hartford falls to 18-14 overall and will next host the Albany Great Danes for a three-game weekend series.
Hartford finished the game with six hits led by Alfonso's two. The remaining four hits came from different players with all four registered as singles. The Hawks would strand five runners on base before pushing their only runs across the plate in the bottom of the ninth as the comeback fell short. Four of the runners stranded in the first eight innings were left in scoring position.
Army would put its first run on the board in the second inning. The first attempt at scoring for the Black Knights was thwarted at the plate thanks to a perfectly placed cutoff throw from second baseman Aaron Wilson who connected with Alfonso to catch Kris Lindner who tried to score from first on a double. That double, from Jacob Page, would eventually lead to the first run of the game as Page was driven home by third baseman Harold Earls who singled up the middle. The Black Knights added three more runs in the seventh inning, with two of them driven home on a single that fell just before a charging Adam Touhey in left field.
Hartford's first scoring threat came in the second inning as Alfonso sent his first hit of the game down the left field line and legged out a double. He would end up stranded 180 feet away as Army starter Patrick Gardner retired the next two batters on infield groundouts.
The Hawks threatened again in the fifth inning when they have two runners in scoring position with one out. The Black Knights turned to a second reliever in the inning who was able to strand both runners on base with a strikeout and infield groundout. Hartford would again leave a runner 90 feet shy in the seventh as the Black Knights third reliever delivered a strikeout and a shallow fly ball to right.
Trailing by four in the ninth, the middle part of the Hawks lineup extended the game with a leadoff single from third baseman David MacKinnon and a walk from cleanup batter Ryan Lukach, both with no outs. The pair would both touch home plate for Hartford with Brady Sheetz and Chris DelDebbio recording the RBI's. Army closer Johnny Griffith would then strand the two runs needed to tie the game at first and second with a game-ending strikeout.
Hartford and Albany are scheduled to open the weekend set with a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon. First pitch of the series opener is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Fiondella Field. The series finale on Sunday is set to begin at 12 p.m.