After defeating rival Sacred Heart in an elimination game, defending NEC Tournament champion Central Connecticut topped No. 1 seed Bryant to keep its repeat title hopes alive. CCSU, which benefitted from late-inning heroics in both wins on Saturday, has forced a winner-take-all battle against Bryant on Sunday at 12:00 pm ET. With forecasts calling for inclement weather to hit the Norwich area throughout Sunday, please monitor the @necbaseball Twitter page for updates.

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GAME 6
#2 CCSU 7, #1 Bryant 5

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Norwich, CT - Central Connecticut was not ready to give it up.

The defending NEC Tournament champions fought out of the losers’ bracket and proceeded to defeat top-seeded Bryant, 7-5, to force a deciding Game 7.

CCSU centerfielder Buddy Dewaine led off the bottom of the seventh by poking an opposite field solo home run over the right-centerfield fence to break a 5-5 tie.

“I’m best when I’m hitting the ball to right-center,” said Dewaine.  “I just have to stick with that approach.”

After Dewaine’s second homer of the tournament, Matt Bertochi stroked a single to provide an insurance later in the inning and Dylan Sabia did the rest on the mound for the Blue Devils.

“We’re one of the grittiest teams in the country,” said Dewaine, who helped CCSU come out of the losers’ bracket to win the 2019 NEC Tournament title. “We get punched in the mouth and we punch right back.”

Dewaine finished the game 2-for-4 with a walk, two RBI and two runs. He was one of three Blue Devils to record a multi-hit performance.

Central first baseman Noah Martinez logged three hits, including an RBI single during a four-run third inning. Meanwhile, leftfielder Michael Torniero went 4-for-4 with one run scored.

CCSU reliever Dylan Sabia pitched 4.0 innings of one-hit ball to earn the victory. He struck out three batters and walked none.

 “We just battled and competed,” said CCSU skipper Charlie Hickey. “Dylan Sabia was terrific the last four innings.”

Central Connecticut plated the game’s first run on a first-inning fielder’s choice, but Bryant bounced back with three runs in the third frame.

After Bryant’s Matt Woods drew a leadoff walk, all-NEC second baseman Jake Gustin drove Woods in with a in the left-centerfield gap. The Bulldogs added two more runs on a bases-loaded and a RBI groundout, taking a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the third.

CCSU answered promptly in their half of the inning, plating four runs highlighted by a two-run bomb by all-NEC catcher Sam Loda.

“When you leave unanswered runs up there for a couple innings, it’s hard to get back, but when you punch back right away, it’s a lot easier to get back into the game,” said Dewaine.


 
GAME 5
#2 CCSU 5, #3 Sacred Heart 4
 
 
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Norwich, CT - Central Connecticut called upon a pair of rookies in the late innings of Saturday’s elimination game and both men answered the bell.

Pinch-hitting in the ninth inning of a 3-3 game, freshman Hunter Pasqualini smacked a double into the right-centerfield gap to plate Dave Matthews with the go-ahead run.

After Dan Covino added an insurance run for CCSU with a two-out base hit, rookie reliever Jake Neuman stayed on to pitch the ninth.

Neuman, who initially entered the game in the eighth frame right after Sacred Heart had tied the score at 3-3, hit the leadoff batter with a pitch before recording three straight outs to nail down a 5-3 win over the rival Pioneers.