Baseball Held Off at No. 4 Auburn in NCAA Regional Opener
The Central Connecticut baseball team came up short against Auburn, the No. 4 seed, in its NCAA Regional opener on Friday night at Plainsman Park in Auburn, AL. The Blue Devils would tie the game, 4-4, before the Tigers used a four-run inning to take the lead for good.
The Blue Devils will regroup to play N.C. State on Saturday in a 3:00 p.m. elimination game.
GAME INFORMATION | BOX SCORE
Score: CENTRAL CONNECTICUT 5, #4 AUBURN 9
Pitching Record: W: Myers (3-2) | L: Munn (8-3) | Save: - -
Records: CCSU (31-16, 23-7 NEC), #4 Auburn (39-18, 17-13 SEC)
Location: Plainsman Park | Auburn, AL
KEY MOMENTS
- The first inning featured both teams getting chances to score. In the top of the first, Colby Brouillette, Aidan Redahan and Chris Brown loaded the bases with three straight singles. The Blue Devils came away empty-handed, however, when a wild pitch took a fortunate bounce off the backstop and allowed the Tigers to tag the runner out at home to end the frame.
- In the Auburn first, following a groundout to the pitcher the Tigers would load the bases with one out. Three straight singles, capped off by a two-run knock by Bub Terrell would make it 4-0.
- CCSU would get a leadoff single by Gianno Merlonghi, followed by a pair of walks to load the bases in the top of the second. Matt Falk would deliver a single to left and Merlonghi and Antonio Ducatelli would score. With runners on second and third, Brouillette hit an infield single that drove in Kyle Gordon to make it 4-3.
- The Blue Devils kept up the pressure in the third with Ducatelli drawing a one-out walk, followed by a Gordon single. With two outs, Brady Short singled through the right side of the infield to drive in a run and make it 4-4.
- Lucas Steele led off the bottom of the third for Auburn to kick off a four-run inning. A pair of singles would plate two runs and a groundout scored another run to make it 8-4. The Tigers added a run in the fourth when Eric Snow tripled to lead off and then scored on a sac fly by Bub Terrell.
- The Blue Devils would get a run back in the eighth. Short led off with a double off the wall in left and came around to score on a single by Brouillette to round out the game's scoring.
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
Charlie Hickey, Central Connecticut State head coach
"First off, it was a terrific environment, a great crowd, great facility. Something we enjoyed playing in and valued in -- sort of outside our realm, a little bit. But when you play a game like that, there are some emotions going on, but I thought we competed and played hard. I think these kids will remember this for a long time. So many times, we've been fortunate to be in this. Sometimes you press, and you can see that the first inning starts all of a sudden, really getting fast on us, after we sort of let them off the hook a little bit in the first inning. But Drew Mund did a great job. He battled for us and kept us in there. We packed and got some balls in play. Of the 14 hits, I think 12 of them were singles, and I thought that was probably reflective. But all in all, I was very proud and happy for my team."
#14 Colby Brouillette (DH) on facing Cam Tilly…
"It was a really good sign for us hitters that we got through their starter early. So, we always try to work counts, work at bats and get to their bullpen. And to see that so quickly was a great sign. But also, you know, we have to keep the foot on the gas. I think we battled him hard and had some good at-bats against him, but at the same time, he also continued to pitch well."
FULL CCSU PRESSER -> https://auburn.imagencloud.com/record/3862
NOTES
- Redahan extended his hitting streak to 10 games and posted his 32nd multi-hit game of the season. He drew a walk and has reached base safely in 10 straight games.
- Brouillette went 3-for-5 and drove in two runs.
- Short drove in a run, scored another and had two hits.
- Merlonghi and Gordon each added two hits and a run scored.
- Central has collected 10+ hits as a team in 37 games this season.
- Munn turned in a workmanlike outing on the mound. He would work through 6.0 innings and struck out five. He was charged with just one run across his final 3.0 innings of work.
- The teams were meeting for the first time, but CCSU has faced SEC schools in each of its past four NCAA Tournament appearances.
- The crowd of 7,367 for the game was the largest in Plainsman Park history.
- The Blue Devils are 1-17 all-time in NCAA Regionals. The lone win came against #24 Cal in 2019.
UP NEXT
- The Blue Devils will play N.C. State in an elimination game on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. The game will air on ESPN+.
Follow @CCSUBlueDevils on X/Twitter and CCSUBlueDevils.com for updates.
