Feeling Blue! CCSU Powers Way To Eighth #NECBaseball Championship 5/28/2023 Click Here for NEC Tournament Headquarters Click Here For Boxscore Wappingers Falls, NY -- CCSU took the long route to get there, but that's a famliar path for the newly crowned 2023 NEC baseball champs. Coming out of the loser's bracket, the top-seeded Blue Devils won three straight games, culminating with a 12-3 win over second-seeded Wagner today at Heritage Financial Park to clinch the program's third NEC crown in four years and eighth overall to extend their own conference record. CCSU (36-12) has won each of its last three NEC titles in a winner-take-all game, and there were no shortage of heroes today who came to play when it mattered most. Going on just two days rest, NEC Pitcher of the Year Dominic Niman (West Hartford, CT/Conard) followed up his conference record 14-strikeout performance on Thursday with a workmanlike complete game effort to pick up his league-leading 12th win of the year and earn NEC Tournament MVP honors. He allowed two earned runs on just five hits and did not walk a batter while striking out four. After giving up three early runs, Niman retired 15 straight at one point before allowing a single in the ninth inning. For the tournament, he went 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 16 innings. He yielded eight hits and posted a 0.625 WHIP over the two appearances. Niman heads into NCAA play with a 12-2 record and 2.76 ERA. While Niman starred on the mound, the game's big blow was struck by junior shortstop Elliot Good (Meriden, CT/Maloney), who laced a three-run homer to left in the seventh inning to break open a two-run game and give the Blue Devils a commanding 8-3 lead. He racked up four RBIs on the afternoon. And then there was junior centerfielder Michael Torniero (East Haven, CT/Notre Dame West Haven), who went 4-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored. He finished 10-for-19 (.526) for the tournament. Throw in Blue Devil slugger Ramon Jimenez (Chicopee, MA/Chicopee (Boston College)), a graduate student first baseman, who capped a prolific tournament with his 11th homer of the year to help ice things in the eighth. Jimenez wrapped the tournament 11-for-22 with seven RBIs. Good, Torniero, Jimenez and Luke Garofalo (Middlefield, CT/Coginchaug (Bryant)) all joined Niman on the NEC All-Tournament Team. While CCSU won by nine runs, the Blue Devils needed to come from behind on two occasions in the final. Wagner (32-24) got off to an exciting start when All-NEC first-team senior catcher David Melfi (Staten Island, NY/Jackson Liberty) rocketed a two-run blast over the left field fence in the first. CCSU put two on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second after third baseman Aidan Redahan (Greenwich, CT/Brunswick School) crossed home on a wild pitch followed by a Torniero blooper that dropped in between three fielders in left-center. Wagner took a 3-2 lead in the fourth on senior rightfielder Dante Faicchio's (Laguna Beach, CA/Laguna Beach/Irvine Valley College | Pepperdine) doubled into left-centerfield gap. The Blue Devils responded in the bottom of the frame, tying things up on second baseman Brady Short's (Hurley, NY / Kingston) recorded an RBI single with the bases loaded. Jimenez, an All-NEC second teamer,reached on a fielder’s choice to drive in another run and give CCSU its first lead of the game. With Niman seemingly getting stronger, sending the Seahawks down 1-2-3 out inning in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings, the CCSU bats began to heat up. In the bottom of the sixth, designated hitter Kyle Gordon (Norwalk, CT/Norwalk) laced an RBI double into left-center to extend the lead to 5-3 in favor of the Blue Devils. Good, a second team NEC all-star, followed with his three-run shot in the seventh. After Jimenez launched a no-doubter solo shot into left center field to lead off the eighth, Jeff Nicol (Wolcott, CT/Wolcott) followed with an RBI single and graduate student outfielder Jimmy Sullivan (Wethersfield, CT/Wethersfield (University of Virginia)) belted an RBI triple for an eight run cushion. Good singled in the gap between third and short to send home the 12th and final run for CCSU. CCSU rang up 12 hits against five Wagner pitchers. Melfi led the runner-up Seahawks with two RBIs, and teammate Griffin Selby (Santa Ana, CA/Foothill (Santa Ana College)) went 2-for-4 and scored a run. Melfi, along with teammates Chris Conniff (Edmond, OK/ Norco/St. John's) and Frankie Wright (Egg Harbor Township, NJ/Egg Harbor Township) earned NEC All-Tournament honors. CCSU will find out its NCAA opponent during the ESPN2 selection show on Monday at noon. NEC All-Tournament Team Dominic Niman, CCSU (MVP) Luke Garafolo, CCSU Elliott Good, CCSU Ramon Jimenez, CCSU Michael Torniero, CCSU Chris Conniff, Wagner Frankie Wright, Wagner David Melfi, Wagner Hunter D’Amato, FDU Rich Racobaldo, FDU Garrett Yawn, LIU Sam Mongelli, Sacred Heart Charlie Costello, Sacred Heart