Baseball Edged by Trinity on the Road Wednesday Afternoon

HARTFORD, Conn. - The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) baseball team came up just short in a tightly contested non-conference matchup at Trinity College, falling 10-9 on Wednesday afternoon at Murren Family Field. With the result, the Blue Jays slipped to 18-9 on the season, while the Bantams improved to 15-6.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Blue Jays wasted little time getting on the board in the opening inning as freshman Sam Balducci (South Windsor, Conn.) lined an RBI single to left field, scoring senior infielder JJ Fox (Killingworth, Conn.) to give USJ a 1-0 lead. Later in the frame, sophomore infielder Jack Kane (West Hartford, Conn.) came around to score on a defensive miscue, doubling the advantage to 2-0.
• Trinity responded in the second inning with a solo home run from Dylan Schnitzer to cut the deficit to 2-1, then evened the score in the fourth on a sacrifice fly from William Sawyer.
• Kane put the Blue Jays back in front in the fifth, launching a solo home run to left field to make it 3-2.
• The Bantams answered in the sixth, erupting for four runs to take a 6-3 lead.
• USJ mounted a strong response in the seventh inning. Senior outfielder Dom Scalia (Northford, Conn.) lifted a sacrifice fly to score junior outfielder Ben Balducci (South Windsor, Conn.), trimming the deficit to 6-4. Moments later, senior outfielder Ryan Quinn (Middletown, Conn.) delivered a clutch, game-tying single up the middle, scoring Kane and Fox to even the game at six.
• Trinity regained the lead in the eighth on a three-run home run from Andrew Park, taking a 9-6 advantage into the final frame.
• The The Blue Jays refused to go quietly in the ninth. With two outs, Quinn came through again, ripping a two-run double down the right-field line to make it 9-8. S. Balducci followed with an RBI single to right field, scoring Quinn to tie the game at 9-9.
• However, Trinity answered in the bottom half of the inning, as Pete Beisel delivered a walk-off single to give the Bantams a 10-9 victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Kane, Fox, Balducci, and Quinn each recorded multi-hit performances for the Blue Jays.
• Quinn led the offense with a team-high four RBIs.
• Freshman pitcher Carsten Donovan (Cheshire, Conn.) made his first collegiate start, tossing 4.0 innings while allowing four hits and two runs and striking out three in a no-decision.

UP NEXT

The Blue Jays are back in action on Saturday, April 11, resuming Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play with a doubleheader against Lasell University. First pitch of game one between USJ and the Lasers is set for 2:00 p.m. with game two set to take place at approximately 4:30 p.m.

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