THE BASICS:

RESULT: Hartford 7, UAlbany 6
LOCATION: Fiondella Field (West Hartford, Conn.)
RECORDS: Hartford (8-4, 1-0 AE); UAlbany (6-9, 0-1 AE)

THE LEAD:
After falling behind early in the game, the Hartford baseball team rallied in a thrilling performance, winning in the ninth inning on a walk-off single by Ben Bengtson to defeat Albany 7-6.

Bengtson had two hits and drove in three runs on the day. David MacKinnon added three hits, and Ashton Bardzell added a hit and two RBIs. Kyle Sacks hit a two-run home run for Albany in the affair.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
·         Albany managed to strike first on the day, collecting three runs in the top of the second inning to give the Great Danes an early 3-0 lead.
·         After Albany added two more runs in the top half of the third on Sacks' home run, Hartford got a run back on an RBI single by MacKinnon to close the gap to a 5-1 deficit.
·         Hartford managed to charge back in the bottom of the sixth after Albany issued three walks in a row. With one out in the inning, a wild pitch brought in a run and advanced the runners to second and third. Bardzell came through in a big way, ripping a two-run single up the middle to make it a 5-4 game.
·         Justin Robarge, who shut the Great Danes down 1-2-3 in the sixth inning, got into trouble with two outs in the seventh, and Jacob Mellin took the mound to try and hold off Albany. The Great Danes picked up an RBI on a hit-by-pitch to push the lead to 6-4.
·        Albany got stuck in another jam in the bottom of the seventh, and the Hawks capitalized once again. Bengtson ripped a two-run single up the middle, and just like that, the Hawks tied the game at 6-6.
·        Sam McKay held off Albany in the ninth inning, so it would take a walk-off win for the Hawks to seal the victory, and with two outs in the inning, Bengtson came through once again.
·        After two quick outs in the ninth, the Hawks started to rally. An important single by Chris DelDebbio put a man on, and a wild pitch followed by a passed ball got DelDebbio into scoring position. Erik Ostberg walked, but Bengtson came up to the plate and executed, smoking a two-strike single into the gap to give the Hawks a thrilling 7-6 win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
·         Bengtson continued his strong season at the plate, as his performance today rose his average to .297, with 11 hits and nine RBIs in nine games.
·       McKay picked up his first win of the season after working through two innings against UAlbany, allowing just one hit and striking out one.

NEXT UP:
Hartford will play in games two and three of the series as part of a doubleheader tomorrow afternoon. Game one starts at noon, and the final game will take place 30 minutes after the opener. Free live video of both games will be available on HartfordHawks.com and AmericaEast.TV. Be sure to check out @HartfordBASE on Twitter for in-game updates and for news about the program.