MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The New Haven baseball team officially kicked off the 2020 season on Saturday by splitting a doubleheader against Felician, dropping game one 6-3 before rallying for a 7-4, seven-inning win in the nightcap. Senior third baseman
Billy Huber (Smithtown, N.Y./Hauppauge) led the way offensively by going a combined 2-for-5 with a walk, two RBI and a run scored in the two games. Senior
Matt Chamberlain (North Branford, Conn./North Branford) also reached base five times in nine plate appearances via four walks and a hit by pitch, and scored a pair of runs in game one.
Senior Devon DiMascio earned the win in game two, firing 4.2 innings and allowing four hits and four earned runs while striking out five. Sophomore
Dominic Rutigliano (Franklin Square, N.Y./Carey) earned the save by tossing a scoreless seventh inning.
GAME 1
The Chargers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in game one, scoring single runs in both the first and third innings. Chamberlain led off the season with a walk, later stole third and scored moments later on a single to center field by Huber.
Chamberlain then led off the third with a hit by pitch, went to second on a sacrifice by
Noah Budzik (Cromwell, Conn./Cromwell), and advanced to third via a pair of walks before scoring unearned on a passed ball.
Junior starter
Izaiya Mestre (Pittsfield, Mass./Taconic) allowed just one hit through the first three innings before running into trouble in the fourth. After a leadoff home run cut the Charger advantage in half at 2-1, a walk and a one-out RBI triple tied the game 2-2, followed a RBI groundout that gave the Falcons a 3-2 lead.
The Chargers would rally to tie the score in the top of the eighth inning, sparked by a leadoff double by Huber down the left field line. Up next,
Tyler Wells (Danville, Vt./St. Johnsbury Academy) delivered his first career base hit through the right side to plate Huber with the tying run.
However, the lead was short lived as the Falcons struck back with three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning against the UNH bullpen, scoring the go-ahead run on an infield single, and then tacking on a pair of insurance runs with a big two-out, two-run triple to pad the lead to 6-3.
GAME 2
The Falcons kept the bats warm to start game two, taking an early 1-0 lead when Mike Martinez led off the game with a home run.
DiMascio settled in and retired eight batters in a row, working around an infield single in the third and a hit batsman in the fourth.
After being held hitless through the first three innings, the Chargers blew the game open with seven runs in the fourth, taking advantage of a pair of hits, three walks, three hit by pitches and one error.
New Haven loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the fourth after a leadoff single by Budzik, a Huber hit by pitch, and Wells walk.
Thomas Eletto (Locust Valley, N.Y./Locust Valley) was then plunked with a pitch to force in Budzik and freshman right fielder
Robert Taylor (Wolcott, Conn./The Gunnery) followed with his first collegiate hit and RBI on a single to left field that plated Huber with the go-ahead run. After Wells scored on an error,
Brett Reedy (Enfield, Conn./Enfield) was hit by a pitch to score Eletto and up the Charger lead to 4-1.
After a call to the bullpen, Chamberlain walked to force in a run, Budzik drove in a run with a fielder's choice ground ball, and Reedy scored one batter later on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 7-1.
Felician got three runs right back in the top of the fifth off two walks and two hits.
Brendon Malouf (Beacon, N.Y./Beacon) tossed 1.1 scoreless innings of relief, including working around a two-on, two-out jam in the sixth. Rutigliano came on in the seventh to earn his first career save, surrendering a two-out single before inducing pop out to end the game.
The Chargers will get right back at it on Sunday with the final two games of their South Carolina trip against Stonehill at 9 a.m., followed by a matchup with No. 12 New York Tech at 3 p.m.
