BOX SCORE WEST HAVEN, Conn. – An RBI single in the bottom of the ninth by Chris DeMorais (West Hartford, Conn./Conard) capped a comeback from a four-run deficit as the University of New Haven baseball team swept the season series from crosstown and Northeast-10 Southwest Division rival Southern Connecticut State, 7-6.
 
With the win, the Chargers improve to 26-12 overall and 13-5 in divisional play. New Haven can clinch the Northeast-10 Southwest Division title with two wins in the weekend’s three-game set with Adelphi. The Owls fall to 20-18-1 on the season with a 6-12 NE-10 Southwest record after the loss. New Haven won game one of the series, 5-4, on April 2 and took the second game, 11-4, on April 16.
 
After DeMorais picked up an RBI in sixth inning, the Chargers’ rally began in the eighth inning, trailing 5-1. Stephen Clout (Bristol, Conn./Bristol Eastern) worked a walk to lead off the frame, stole second and moved to third when Brendan O”Reilly did his job with a groundout to the right side. SCSU starter Rocco Cunardi got a strikeout for the second out of the inning, but DeMorais legged out an infield hit on a high chopper to score Clout and keep the rally alive. After a wild pitch moved DeMorais into scoring position, Kyle Cullen (Dumont, N.J./Dumont) singled through the left side to cut the deficit to 5-3. Cullen promptly stole second base and came around on an Andrew Johnson (Branford, Conn./Branford / Wheaton) base-hit. With the score now 5-4, the Owls lifted Cunardi after 132 pitches in favor of closer Pat Egan.
 
Egan was greeted by Nick Nunziato (Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville), who ripped the first pitch he saw down the right field line for an RBI triple that knotted the score at 5-5. Egan then uncorked a wild pitch, and Nunziato raced home with the go-ahead run.
 
The Chargers handed the ball to Peter Jay (Shelton, Conn./Shelton) in the top of the ninth inning. SCSU clean-up hitter A.J. Rouleau led off the inning with a double, and the Owls played small ball to plate the tying run with a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly to bring him home.  Despite letting up an earned run for the first time in 23.1 innings of work this season, Jay bounced back to record the inning-ending strikeout and send the game to the bottom of the ninth inning at 6-6.
 
Brendon Buckley (Monroe, Conn./Masuk) battled to a leadoff walk to open the bottom of the ninth frame, and Clout followed with a sacrifice bunt to move the winning run into scoring position. After Egan induced a pop-up for the second out, Joe Romanelli (Baldwin, N.Y./Holy Trinity) walked on five pitches to keep the inning alive. SCSU then called out Steve Landell to face DeMorais. The Chargers’ designated hitter went with a pitch from Landell through the left side to drive in Buckley with the game-winning run in a 7-6 victory.
 
DeMorais’ walk-off hit capped a 3-for-5, three-RBI day at the plate. The Chargers also stole five bases in the game, including two from Clout.
 
John Melville (Ulster Park, N.Y./Kingston) worked the first eight innings on the mound for New Haven. The right-hander allowed three earned runs on nine hits, one walk and three batters while striking out two in the no-decision. Melville also stranded 10 runners on base, battling through five UNH fielding errors.
 
Jay picked up the win to improve to 1-1. The loss was charged to Egan, who ceded two earned runs on one hit, two walks and a wild pitch to fall to 4-2.
 
The Chargers conclude their non-conference schedule tomorrow (Wednesday, May 1) with a 3:30 p.m. visit from LIU Post. New Haven finishes the regular season with a three-game weekend series against Northeast-10 Southwest Division foe Adelphi. The series begins on Friday with a 3:30 p.m. outing followed by a noon doubleheader on Saturday, May 4.