BOX SCORE SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The first start of the season for Connor Moriarty (Branford, Conn./Branford) was a complete-game effort as the southpaw pitched the University of New Haven baseball team to a 5-1 win at Le Moyne on Saturday afternoon. Brendon Buckley (Monroe, Conn./Masuk) and Chris DeMorais (West Hartford, Conn./Conard) each drove in two runs for the Chargers.
 
Following the win, New Haven improves to 18-9 overall, 13-7 in the Northeast-10 and 8-4 in the NE-10 Southwest Division. The Dolphins fall to 14-20 on the season with an 8-7 conference mark and 5-6 divisional tally.
 
Moriarty (2-0) scattered nine hits and five walks, ceding just one earned run in the first complete game of his career. The left-hander struck out seven Dolphins in the 164-pitch performance.
 
Buckley went 2-for-5 with two runs batted in and a stolen base, and DeMorais was 1-for-4 with a pair of RBI. The final RBI went to Brendan O'Reilly, who also swiped his team-leading 15th base of the spring. Tom Walraven (Pine Bush, N.Y./Pine Bush) and Andrew Johnson (Branford, Conn./Branford / Wheaton) each had two hits and two runs scored at the top of the New Haven lineup.
 
The loss went to Le Moyne's Ryan O'Kane, who surrendered two earned runs on six hits and two walks in his six innings of action. Bobby Renaud finished the pitching effort for the hosts.
 
Moriarty and O'Kane traded zeroes into the fifth inning, when the Chargers got on the board. Walraven and Johnson put together back-to-back singles to set the table and, with two down, DeMorais delivered a base-hit into left field. Walraven slid around Dolphins' catcher Matt Buroni and avoided the tag to score the first run of the afternoon. Buckley followed with a single through the left side, plating Johnson and running the lead to 2-0.
 
DeMorais and Buckley each picked up an RBI once again in the top of the seventh as the Chargers extended their lead. Walraven walked to lead off the frame, and Le Moyne was then unable to record an out on Johnson's sacrifice bunt, putting runners on first and second. After O'Reilly laid down a successful sacrifice bunt to move both baserunners up 90 feet, DeMorais lofted a sacrifice fly that pushed Walraven across. Buckley's second RBI single of the contest followed, scoring Johnson to stake the Blue and Gold to a 4-0 advantage at stretch time.
 
The Dolphins broke up the shutout in the bottom of the seventh on a two-out RBI single by Brett Charbonneau, but New Haven took the run back in its next trip to the dish without putting a ball out of the infield. Kyle Cullen (Dumont, N.J./Dumont) walked to lead off the stanza, and Eddie Tammaro (South Hempstead, N.Y./South Side) was then hit by a pitch. Walraven followed with a well-placed sacrifice bunt that turned into an infield hit and loaded the bases. With one out in the frame, O'Reilly beat out a potential inning-ending double play that allowed Tammaro to race home and build the Chargers' lead back to four runs at 5-1.
 
In the bottom of the ninth, Moriarty stranded a pair of runners in scoring position to finish off the 5-1 victory.
 
New Haven and Le Moyne will finish off their three-game divisional series tomorrow (Sunday, April 27) with a doubleheader. First pitch from Syracuse is set for noon.