WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The University of New Haven baseball team traded zeroes with Le Moyne for eight innings on Saturday afternoon, but the visiting Dolphins scratched out a pair of runs in the ninth to take a 2-0 decision at Frank Vieira Field. Henry Hirsch (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale) got the start and tossed seven shutout innings for the Chargers.
With the loss, New Haven falls to 16-10 overall and 4-3 in the Northeast-10 Southwest Division. Le Moyne improves to 11-17 with a 3-3 divisional record. The teams will complete their annual three-game series tomorrow with a noon doubleheader.
Hirsch scattered five singles, two walks and two hit batters in his seven scoreless innings of work. The hard-throwing right-hander struck out eight. Southpaw Joey Royer (Westbrook, Maine/Cheverus) took the loss, recording three outs and ceding the game’s only two runs (one earned). Peter Jay (Shelton, Conn./Shelton) finished the game with a scoreless frame of relief.
Kevin Carroll (2-1) shouldered the load on the mound for Le Moyne. He surrendered two hits and six walks while compiling 13 strikeouts in his eight-inning, 129-pitch shutout. Conor Nolan threw a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his second save.
The Chargers’ offense came courtesy of a double from centerfielder Brendan O’Reilly and a base-hit by designated hitter Chris DeMorais (West Hartford, Conn./Conard). O’Reilly and DeMorais each earned one of the half-dozen walks issued by Carroll as well, with O’Reilly and third baseman Brendon Buckley (Monroe, Conn./Masuk) each swiping a base. In addition to calling a strong outing by Hirsch, catcher Joe Romanelli (Baldwin, N.Y./Holy Trinity) also laid down a successful sacrifice bunt.
The only runs of the day came in the top of the ninth inning. Kody O’Connor led off with a double to left centerfield off of Royer, and well-placed sacrifice bunt by Paul Speicher then yielded no outs to put runners on the corners. After Head Coach Chris Celano handed the ball to Jay, a suicide squeeze off the bat of Ryan Mahoney scored the game’s first run and again resulted in no outs recorded. After a fielder’s choice groundout and a pop-up to right field, Matthew Ciraco’s two-out single added an insurance tally for the Dolphins, up 2-0 heading into the bottom of the ninth frame.
The Chargers made solid contact off of Nolan, most notably Romanelli’s fly-out tracked down in the gap in left centerfield, but went down in order in the last of the ninth to fall by a count of 2-0.
After the series concludes with tomorrow afternoon’s twin bill, the Chargers continue NE-10 Southwest Division play with a five-game road swing beginning on Tuesday, April 16 at crosstown rival Southern Connecticut State. New Haven returns to the diamond at Frank Vieira Field on Thursday, April 25 for a non-conference meeting with Post.