THE BASICS:
 
RESULTS:  Game 1  — Hartford 4, UAlbany 3 (10 innings); Game 2 —UAlbany 6, Hartford 3
LOCATION:  Fiondella Field (West Hartford, Conn.)
RECORDS:  Hartford (20-23, 8-9 America East), UAlbany (20-23, 7-12 America East)
Game 1 — W:  Seth Pinkerton (2-2) L: Dominic Savino (3-3)
Game 2 — W:  Kenny McLean (4-3) L: Nathan Florence (1-4) S: Hunter Torres (3)
 
 
THE LEAD: 
The University of Hartford baseball team (20-23, 8-9 America East) split Saturday's doubleheader against UAlbany (20-23, 7-12 AE) at Fiondella Field. The Hawks took game one, 4-3, in dramatic fashion, winning on a 10^th-inning walkoff hit from senior captain Dalton Ruch, before UAlbany bounced back with a 6-3 victory in game two.
 
The Hawks' bullpen came up big in Hartford's victory as Drew Farkas, John LaRossa and Seth Pinkerton combined for 4.2 scoreless innings. Pinkerton took over in the ninth inning and got the Hawks out of a jam, before earning the win as a result of Ruch's game-winning single.
 
Ruch recorded five hits during the doubleheader to lead the Hawks. First baseman David MacKinnon added four hits and left fielder Chris Sullivan contributed three. UAlbany shortstop Travis Collins finished with four hits for the Great Danes, including two home runs. Center fielder Connor Powers also hit two homers on the day, with one in each game of the doubleheader.
 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED (Game 1):

• UAlbany got things started when Powers connected for a solo home run to right field in the top of the first.
• The Hawks answered in the bottom half of the inning, tying the score at 1-1 when right fielder Nick Campana doubled and eventually scored from third when UAlbany attempted to catch Ashton Bardzell stealing second base.
• Left fielder Marc Wangenstein helped the Great Danes regain the lead in the second inning when he tripled to left-center and scored on a sac fly from Collins.
• Collins lifted a two-out homer to left field to push UAlbany's lead to 3-1 in the fourth.
• Hartford cut the deficit to 3-2 in the fifth when designated hitter Bryce Walker drove in MacKinnon with a sac fly to deep left field.
• The Hawks tied the game at 3-3 in the eighth when Zachary Ardito and Jackson Olson recorded back-to-back singles, with Ardito coming around to score on a throwing error on the play.
• Farkas, LaRossa and Pinkerton pinned down UAlbany, combining for 4.2 shutout innings, taking Hartford into the 10^th.
• Ardito drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the 10^th, advanced on a sac bunt by catcher Rob Carmody and scored on Ruch's game-winning walk-off single.

 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED (Game 2):

• Campana notched a leadoff double in the bottom of the first, advanced on a passed ball and scored on throwing error when the Great Danes tried to catch MacKinnon stealing second.
• One batter later, MacKinnon made it 2-0 on an RBI single from Sullivan.
• Collins hit a solo home run to right in the second inning to make it 2-1.
• Shortstop Ben Bengtson pushed the Hawks' lead to 3-1 with a two-out double to the gap in right-center, scoring MacKinnon from first base.
• The Great Danes scored four runs in the fifth, with two coming on a home run by Powers, to take a 5-3 lead.
• UAlbany tacked on one run in the sixth on a double by Alex Thul and an RBI single from Nick Kondo.

 
 
NEXT UP:
The Hawks and Great Danes will meet in the series finale on Saturday, at 9:30 a.m., at Fiondella Field. Hartford's Connor Lewis (3-2, 4.89 ERA) will face off against Great Danes junior lefty Jack McClure (3-1, 2.93 ERA).
 
Saturday will also be Senior Day for Hartford and the Hawks will honor Stepniak, MacKinnon, Ruch, LaRossa and David Drouin during a pregame ceremony that will begin at 9:10 a.m.

Saturday's game will be streamed HERE, with live stats available HERE and Twitter updates provided by @HartfordBASE.