The New Haven baseball team traveled to Garden City, N.Y. this past weekend for a three-game series against the Adelphi University Panthers. The Chargers took two of the three games to end the regular season.
Left-handed pitcher Liam Carroll got the ball for the Chargers in game one. He received the win after throwing 6.2 innings, allowing five runs on six hits while adding four strikeouts.
The Chargers broke the game open early with seven runs in the top of the second inning. The first two runs came thanks to a double from shortstop Aedan Forde, who brought in second baseman Noah Budzik and catcher Cam McGugan. Forde later scored on a fielder’s choice from first baseman Matt McIntire. Left fielder Owen Pincince brought in two more with a single into left field. Pincince then scored the seventh run of the inning on a wild pitch.
The Chargers held a 7-1 lead over the next four innings until the Panthers cut the deficit in half with three runs in the bottom of the seventh. New Haven called on relief pitcher Matt Minio, who gave up the fourth run on a wild pitch before he closed out the inning with a fly out to left field.
The Chargers extended their two-run lead in the eighth inning as pinch hitter Shaun Callahan scored right fielder Cole Maucere with a sacrifice fly to left field. Game one ended with a 8-5 victory for New Haven.
Right-handed pitcher Michael Gatti got the start in game two and turned in a strong outing, going five innings, striking out six and giving up two runs on two hits. Right-handed pitcher Randy Ramnarace closed the game with four scoreless innings and struck out six while only allowing two hits.
New Haven scored first in game two with two runs in the top of the second inning on a two-run single to left from Budzik.
Adelphi was quick to answer back with a two-run homer in the bottom of the second off the bat of designated hitter Michael Robinson that tied the game at two.
The Chargers wasted no time in taking back the lead after a double from Callahan, who was now playing right field, scored designated hitter Tyler Wells. Innings four and five were scoreless for both teams, until New Haven put the lead out of reach with four runs scored in the top of the sixth. RBIs were accredited to Callahan and McIntire, who brought home two runs each to finalize the 7-2 victory for New Haven.
The third and final game of the series was back and forth between both teams, with the Panthers putting up the first run in the bottom of the first on a single from first baseman Joe Pellegrino.
The Chargers answered back in the third inning with a solo home run from Maucere. Adelphi took the lead back in the bottom of the third after a sacrifice fly brought home their second run of the game.
Wells brought another run across for the Chargers in the top of the fifth with a single to right that brought in Maucere. Wells later scored on a throwing error by Adelphi shortstop Jack Wishner.
The game remained tied at three until the top of the seventh inning. Callahan singled to left field to score Wells, followed by a single from third baseman Joseph Frazzetta that brought home Pincince. Adelphi answered back in the bottom of the eighth with a two-run double to tie the game at five.
The Chargers took the lead once more in the top of the ninth with an RBI single from McGugan. Unfortunately for New Haven, Adelphi scored one run off a single to right field by left fielder James Eden, followed by a walk-off sacrifice fly from catcher Bryan McCleary that won the game for the Panthers with a score of 7-6.
After the series, New Haven now holds an overall record of 21-21 with a 13-11 record in the Northeast-10 conference play. The team will travel to New York on Wednesday, May 1 to face Queens University, with first pitch scheduled for 3:30 p.m. More information can be found at NewHavenChargers.com.
