Pitching Rules The Afternoon As UB Baseball Splits A Doubleheader With St. Thomas Aquinas

West Haven, Conn.-Pitching ruled the afternoon as the host University of Bridgeport Purple Knights split an East Coast Conference baseball doubleheader with the visiting St. Thomas Aquinas College Spartans on Saturday afternoon at West Haven High School.  UB won the opener, 1-0, scoring a run in the bottom of the ninth inning, and STAC came back to win the scheduled seven-inning nightcap, 3-2, in eight innings to earn the split.  Bridgeport is now 22-22 overall and 14-9 in conference play.  The Spartans are also 14-9 in the ECC, and STAC is 24-16-1 overall.

The Purple Knights walked off with the win in game one when senior Tim Bickford (Wallingford, Conn.) smoked a line drive with one out in the frame that was misplayed by the Spartans centerfielder allowing sophomore Dylan Steigerwald (Holbrook, N.Y.), who opened the inning with a walk, to score from second base.

That run made a winner of sophomore Anthony Alicki (Milford, Conn.) who was simply dominant in the opener.  Alicki worked all nine innings allowing no runs on five hits with 10 strikeouts and three walks.  Anthony is now 5-3 on the season, and the shutout lowers his ERA to 1.68.

STAC's Anthony Morris also worked a complete game to start the day working 8.1 innings in which he allowed that one unearned run on only three hits.

In game two, UB trailed 2-0, but rallied with single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to tie things up before the Spartans plated a run with two outs in the top of the eighth inning on a beautiful bunt single.

Senior John Ascenzia (West Haven, Conn.) knocked in the Purple Knights' first run on a squeeze bunt in the fourth, and freshman Jose Negron (New Haven, Conn.) tied the game at 2-2 with a single in the fifth.

Nick May got the win for St. Thomas Aquinas in the nightcap working all eight innings in which he allowed five hits, struck out 13 and walked three.

Freshman PJ Martino (Medford, N.Y.) took the loss in relief for Bridgeport in game two and is now 2-4 on the season.  Martino relieved starter Brian O'Keefe (Milford, Conn.), who worked six strong innings in which he allowed two unearned runs on five hits while fanning six and issuing one base on balls.

All three games so far in the four-game weekend series between the Purple Knights and the Spartans have been decided by one run, and the two teams will close out the 2015 regular season with a single, nine-inning game host by STAC at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday.

The final day of the 2015 ECC regular season will be an eventful one, as UB, Dowling and St. Thomas Aquinas are tied atop the conference standings with 14-9 records.  If the Purple Knights defeat STAC tomorrow and Dowling losses to Molloy, Bridgeport will claim the conference regular season crown.  If both UB and Dowling win, the Purple Knights and Golden Lions will share the regular season title, but Dowling will be the number one seed in next week's ECC Championship Tournament by virtue of a tie breaker.  If Bridgeport losses tomorrow, they will be the fourth seed in the ECC Championship, as LIU Post, the other team that will compete for the 2015 ECC title, has a tie breaker over the Purple Knights by virtue of winning its series with Dowling.