NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Alex Palmieri (West Haven, Conn./West Haven) had two hits and Nick Russo (Shirley, N.Y./William Floyd) drove in two runs, but the University of New Haven baseball team fell to the Southern Connecticut State Owls 6-4 in a Northeast-10 Conference Southwest Division matchup on Wednesday afternoon. The Chargers are 8-9 overall and 3-1 in the Southwest Division.
 
Key Players:
·         Russo went 1-for-4 with two RBI in the game.
·         Palmieri had two of the Chargers six hits.
·         Jack Zagaja (Merrick, N.Y./St. Dominic) went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.
·         Tim Kennedy (Ridge, N.Y./Longwood) and Brian Caselli (Stratford, Conn./Stratford) combined to throw six innings of shutout relief. 

How it Happened:
·         New Haven opened the scoring in the first inning as with two outs, a walk to Robert Petrillo (Branford, Conn./Branford) brought up Zagaja who doubled, bringing home the runner.
·         In the second, a single by Russo plated Eddie Tammaro (South Hempstead, N.Y./South Side) who singled to lead off the inning, moved up on a Palmieri single and advanced to third on a groundout.
·         Southern Connecticut scored all of their runs in the bottom of the second inning. After a double by Jake Paul brought home two runs to tie the game, a pair of defensive lapses by the Chargers opened the door for four more runs to come in as the Owls took a 6-2 lead.
·         New Haven scored single runs in the fifth and ninth innings to close the gap. 

Turning Point:
With the Owls holding a 3-2 lead, Jake Lieberman reached on an error allowing two runs to score, extending the lead to 5-2.
 
By the Numbers:
·         Kennedy's 3.1 innings were a career-high.
·         Nick Perrelli (North Branford, Conn./North Branford) went 1-for-5, extending his hitting streak to eight games.
·         Zagaja has now driven in a run in three straight games and eight of the last 10. 

Up Next:
The Chargers return home for a Northeast-10 Conference doubleheader against Saint Michael's on Saturday, April 2. First pitch from Frank Vieira Field is slated for noon.