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Oklahoma City, OK -- The Central Connecticut State baseball team fell into the loser's bracket of the NCAA Regional on Friday afternoon with a 12-1 loss to top seed Florida. With the setback, the Blue Devils will take on host Oklahoma (a 9-1 loser to UCLA) in an elimination game at 11:00 am EST on Saturday at Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City (click here for live stats). The Blue Devils dropped to 41-16-1 overall on the season while Florida improved to 41-20 with the victory.
In the bottom of the first, the Gators scored two unearned runs without a hit off of Blue Devil starter Lew Pappariella. Pappariella walked two straight hitters before shortstop Keith Stegbauer's error loaded the bases with one out. Jeff Corsaletti hit a grounder to second baseman Dan Tarnowski, as the runner from first stopped in the baseline, Tarnowski's throw to first was late and the runner was safe. Junior first baseman Phil Rothkugel threw to Stegbauer to record the second out of the inning, but two runs scored on the play before Pappariella struck out the last batter of the inning. Both of the Gator runs in the inning were unearned.
In the third, the Gators got their first two hits of the game, the second was a double from left fielder Matt LaPorta scoring C.J. Smith who had singled to lead off the inning.
In the fourth, Pappariella retired the first two batters before the Gators scored five runs with two outs to take an 8-0 lead. Ben Harrison had a two-RBI double down the right field line followed by a three-run home run to right field by Corsaletti to extend the lead to eight.
"We opened the door for them a little with our defense and some walks," head coach Charlie Hickey said after the loss. "They continued to put pressure on us in the fourth inning with two outs...five runs later they took the steam out of us a little bit. They did what quality teams do and played a good ball game."
The Blue Devils plated their first run of the game in the top of the fifth inning when they pieced together a pair of hits, the second by Rob Hosgood, scoring Dan Tarnowski who had singled to lead off the inning.
Pappariella came out after seven innings and allowing nine runs, seven earned, and eight hits. He allowed eight hits and walked six batters, he had walked only 13 batters in 60.1 innings entering the game. He also struck our four batters in dropping to 7-3 on the season.
Corsaletti drove in two more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning with a double to left field off of Blue Devil reliever Evan Scribner. The double upped the Gator lead to 12-1.
For the Blue Devils, senior Tim D'Aquila had a pair of hits and Stegbauer, Matt Memoli, Tarnowski and Hosgood all added hits in the loss. The hit for Stegbauer is his 99th of the season as he continues his quest to become the first player in Northeast Conference and school history to record 100 hits in a season.
The Automated ScoreBook
Central Connecticut vs Florida
06/04/04 at Oklahoma City, OK (Bricktown Ballpark)
Central Connecticut 1 (41-16-1)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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Stegbauer, Keith ss...... 4 0 1 0 0 0 4 2 0
Hosgood, Rob rf.......... 4 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1
D'Aquila, Tim c.......... 4 0 2 0 0 0 5 2 0
Rothkugel, Phil 1b....... 3 0 1 0 1 0 10 3 1
Pezzello, Tom lf......... 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3
Memoli, Matt 3b.......... 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0
Muldoon, Brad cf......... 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 2
Appleton, Scott ph...... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Blaze, John dh........... 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Holden, Patrick ph...... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tarnowski, Dan 2b........ 3 1 1 0 0 1 0 6 0
Pappariella, Lewis p..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
Scribner, Evan p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 33 1 6 1 2 2 24 16 7
Florida 12 (41-20)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Jonathan Tucker 3b....... 5 1 1 0 0 2 1 1 0
Adam Davis 2b/lf......... 3 3 1 0 2 1 0 5 2
C.J. Smith 1b............ 3 3 2 0 2 0 18 0 0
Ben Harrison rf.......... 4 2 1 3 0 0 1 0 0
Jeff Corsaletti cf....... 5 1 3 6 0 0 3 0 0
Matt LaPorta lf.......... 2 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1
Ryan Kennedy ph/2b...... 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 1
Justin Tordi ss.......... 2 1 1 0 1 0 1 8 1
Brian Jeroloman c........ 3 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 1
Stephen Barton dh........ 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Matt Maley dh........... 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Justin Hoyman p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Adam Sanabria p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 33 12 11 10 7 5 27 16 6
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Central Connecticut. 000 010 000 - 1 6 2
Florida............. 201 510 03X - 12 11 1
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E - Stegbauer; Muldoon; Hoyman. DP - CCSU 1; FLORIDA 1. LOB - CCSU 7;
FLORIDA 6. 2B - D'Aquila; Rothkugel; Harrison; Corsaletti; LaPorta; Tordi;
Maley. HR - Corsaletti. HBP - Tordi. SF - Harrison. CS - LaPorta.
Central Connecticut IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Pappariella, Lewis.. 7.0 8 9 7 6 4 28 35
Scribner, Evan...... 1.0 3 3 3 1 1 5 7
Florida IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Justin Hoyman....... 8.0 6 1 1 2 2 30 32
Adam Sanabria....... 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3
Win - Hoyman (11-1). Loss - Pappariella (7-3). Save - None.
WP - Pappariella. HBP - by Pappariella (Tordi). BK - Pappariella; Hoyman.
Umpires - HP: Kevin Gilmore 1B: Jeff Head 2B: Paul Guillie 3B: Dave Buck
Start: 3:07 pm Time: 2:18 Attendance: 2250
Game: GAME58
Play-by-Play
The Automated ScoreBook
Central Connecticut vs Florida - Play-by-Play
06/04/04 at Oklahoma City, OK (Bricktown Ballpark)
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Central Connecticut. 000 010 000 - 1 6 2
Florida............. 201 510 03X - 12 11 1
-------------------------------------------
Central Connecticut starters: 11/ss Stegbauer; 24/rf Hosgood; 25/c D'Aquila; 42/1b
Rothkugel; 6/lf Pezzello; 3/3b Memoli; 10/cf Muldoon; 20/dh Blaze; 7/2b Tarnowski;
13/p Pappariella;
Florida starters: 1/3b Tucker; 9/2b Davis; 12/1b Smith; 43/rf Harrison; 7/cf
Corsaletti; 13/lf LaPorta; 29/ss Tordi; 8/c Jeroloman; 6/dh Barton; 21/p Hoyman;
Central Connecticut 1st - Stegbauer grounded out to ss. Hosgood grounded out
to 1b unassisted. D'Aquila doubled to right center. D'Aquila advanced to third on a
balk. Rothkugel grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Florida 1st - Tucker grounded out to 3b. Davis walked. Smith walked; Davis
advanced to second. Harrison reached on an error by ss; Smith advanced to second;
Davis advanced to third. Corsaletti reached on a fielder's choice, RBI; Harrison out
at second 2b to 1b to ss; Smith scored, unearned; Davis scored, unearned. LaPorta
struck out swinging. 2 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Central Connecticut 2nd - Pezzello flied out to rf. Memoli grounded out to
ss. Muldoon grounded out to 1b unassisted. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Florida 2nd - Tordi walked. Jeroloman walked; Tordi advanced to second.
Barton struck out swinging. Tucker grounded out to p; Jeroloman advanced to second;
Tordi advanced to third. Davis flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2
LOB.
Central Connecticut 3rd - Blaze grounded out to ss. Tarnowski grounded out to
1b unassisted. Stegbauer singled to left field. Hosgood flied out to cf. 0 runs,
1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Florida 3rd - Smith singled up the middle. Harrison reached on a fielder's
choice; Smith out at second 2b to ss. Corsaletti grounded out to 1b unassisted;
Harrison advanced to second. LaPorta doubled down the lf line, RBI; Harrison scored.
LaPorta advanced to third on a balk. Tordi grounded out to 2b. 1 run, 2 hits, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
Central Connecticut 4th - D'Aquila grounded out to 2b. Rothkugel doubled to
left center. Pezzello grounded out to 2b; Rothkugel advanced to third. Memoli
walked. Muldoon grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Florida 4th - Jeroloman grounded out to 2b. Barton grounded out to 3b, bunt.
Tucker singled to shortstop. Davis singled through the right side; Tucker advanced
to third. Smith walked; Davis advanced to second. Harrison doubled down the rf line,
2 RBI; Smith advanced to third; Davis scored; Tucker scored. Corsaletti homered to
right field, 3 RBI; Harrison scored; Smith scored. LaPorta walked. LaPorta out at
second c to 1b to 2b to 1b to ss, caught stealing. 5 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Central Connecticut 5th - Blaze grounded out to ss. Tarnowski singled to left
field. Stegbauer reached on an error by p; Tarnowski advanced to second. Hosgood
singled to center field, RBI; Stegbauer advanced to second; Tarnowski scored.
D'Aquila reached on a fielder's choice; Hosgood advanced to second; Stegbauer out at
third 3b unassisted. Rothkugel walked; D'Aquila advanced to second; Hosgood advanced
to third. Pezzello reached on a fielder's choice; Rothkugel out at second ss
unassisted. 1 run, 2 hits, 1 error, 3 LOB.
Florida 5th - Tordi doubled, advanced to third on a throwing error by cf.
Tordi scored on a wild pitch. Jeroloman grounded out to ss. Barton out at first 1b
to p. Tucker struck out swinging. 1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 0 LOB.
Central Connecticut 6th - Memoli flied out to cf. Muldoon grounded out to ss.
Blaze grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Florida 6th - Davis struck out swinging, out at first c to 1b. Smith fouled
out to c. Harrison flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Central Connecticut 7th - Tarnowski struck out looking. Stegbauer grounded
out to 3b, bunt. Hosgood flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Florida 7th - Corsaletti singled to right field. Kennedy pinch hit for
LaPorta. Kennedy lined into double play ss to 1b; Corsaletti out on the play. Tordi
hit by pitch. Jeroloman grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Central Connecticut 8th - Davis to lf. Kennedy to 2b. D'Aquila singled
through the right side. Rothkugel grounded into double play ss to 2b to 1b; D'Aquila
out on the play. Pezzello struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Florida 8th - Scribner to p for Pappariella. Maley to dh for Barton. Maley
doubled to left center. Tucker struck out looking. Davis walked. Smith singled to
right field; Davis advanced to second; Maley advanced to third. Harrison flied out
to cf, SF, RBI; Smith advanced to second; Davis advanced to third; Maley scored.
Corsaletti doubled to left field, 2 RBI; Smith scored; Davis scored. Kennedy flied
out to cf. 3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Central Connecticut 9th - Sanabria to p for Hoyman. Memoli grounded out to
2b. Appleton pinch hit for Muldoon. Appleton grounded out to ss. Holden pinch hit
for Blaze. Holden grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.