Woods Tosses Shutout As Baseball Splits With Hartford
BOX ONE I BOX TWO
ALBANY, N.Y. – Bouncing back from a 4-3 defeat in 10 innings, the University at Albany baseball team overcame Hartford University, 5-0, in Sunday's nightcap as sophomore right-hander Stephen Woods tossed a complete-game gem. With the split, the Great Danes are now 6-9 on the season and 2-2 in America East Conference play.
“I think any conference win is enormous, especially when we've been compromised with the number of games we've played so far,” said Head Coach Jon Mueller. “I thought we played great defense today. In the second game, Stephen was outstanding and the defense backed him up really well.”
Throwing all seven innings, Woods (2-2) held the Hawks scoreless, scattering six hits, while striking out eight.
UAlbany steadily built its lead in the victory, scoring an unearned run in the first inning on freshman Shawn Blake's sacrifice fly to left that plated leadoff hitter Will Miller.
In the second, sophomore Eric Mueller, senior Adam Mund, and junior Karson Canaday strung together a trio of singles, giving UAlbany a 2-0 advantage.
The Great Danes doubled their output in the fourth, tagging Hartford starter Sam McKay for five hits. Miller and senior catcher Craig Lepre knocked back-to-back RBI singles for a 4-0 lead.
Giving Woods a little extra padding in the fifth, junior Trevor DeMerritt drew a leadoff walk, stole second, moved to third on Alex Lushkevich's second hit of the day, and scored on Mund's sac fly to left.
Totaling 10 hits as a team, Blake (2-for-3), Lushkevich (2-for-3), and Mund (2-for-2) led UAlbany with multi-hit efforts.
For Hartford, McKay (3-3) took the loss, allowing four runs (three earned) and nine hits in four innings of work. Out of the pen, Ben Brown and Austin Barnes split the final two frames.
In game one, UAlbany held the lead through the first five innings, scoring two runs in the first, as Miller drew a leadoff walk and Lepre belted a double to the centerfield gap. DeMerritt's infield groundout brought in Miller from third and Lepre scored on Blakes' single to straightaway center.
The Danes took a 3-0 advantage in the fourth, as Mueller, Lushkevich, and Mund knocked consecutive two-out singles.
However, that would be the last run of the game for UAlbany. In the top of the fifth, Chris DelDebbio ripped a leadoff double to right and TJ Ward's fielder's choice brought in the Hawks' first run of the day.
Hartford tied it up in the sixth, plating two on Nick Campana's double to left, bringing in Ben Bengtson who reached on a leadoff walk and David MacKinnon who got on with a single.
Relievers Joey Moore and Jeremy Charles dueled through the final four frames, each facing the minimum. In the top of the 10th, Hartford broke the stalemate, as Ward singled to centerfield, Dalton Ruch laid down a sac bunt, and Aaron Wilson knocked in the go-ahead run with a single center.
Looking to rally, Miller led off with a single to left, but the Hartford defense closed the contest quickly, drawing a flyout and a game-ending double play.
Moore (1-1) took the loss, allowing three runs and seven hits, while striking out two in six innings of work. He relieved UAlbany starter Brendan Ryan in the middle of the fifth after a comeback liner forced Ryan to leave the game. Ryan was credited with one run and four hits, while striking out one in four frames.
Charles (2-1) earned the win for Hartford, allowing no runs and one hit in four innings out of the pen. Starter Kyle Gauthier threw the opening six innings.
At the plate for UAlbany, Blake led the way, going 2-for-4 with an RBI.
The three-game conference series will wrap up Monday. The rubber match between UAlbany and Hartford (9-15, 4-2) is slated to start at 12 p.m. at Varsity Field.
