Superb Pitching Helps UB Baseball To ECC Road Sweep At LIU Post

Brookville, N.Y.-Outstanding pitching ruled the day, as Bridgeport hurlers did not allow an earned run in both ends of an important East Coast Conference baseball road doubleheader sweep at LIU Post on Saturday afternoon.   UB won game one, 3-2, in 12 innings, and the Purple Knights completed the sweep with a 10-0 shutout of the host Pioneers in the nightcap.  With the two win, Bridgeport is now 17-19 overall and 12-7 in the ECC.  LIU Post is now 14-12 overall and 11-8 in conference action.

In the opener, Bridgeport trailed 1-0 heading into the seventh inning before the Purple Knights would take a 2-1 lead in the game on RBI singles by Alec Jannotta (Jr., Branford, Conn.), who went 2-for-4 in game and Tyler Gambardella (Soph., West Haven, Conn.), who had three hits in the opener.

The Pioneers would send the game into extra innings when they plated an unearned run of senior Brian O'Keefe (Milford, Conn.) with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

Inning number 12 belonged to the Purple Knights' Dave Egeland (Jr., Toms River, N.J.) who drove in what proved to be the game-winning run when he scored senior Tim Bickford (Wallingford, Conn.), who had singled with out in the inning, whit a two-out double.  Egeland also made a fantastic catch in right field in the bottom of the inning to help preserve the victory.

On the mound in the opener, sophomore Anthony Alicki (Milford, Conn.) started and worked seven strong innings in which he allowed on two hits, one unearned run, as he struck out nine and walked four.

Sophomore Ray Kreiger (Derby, Conn.) picked up the win in game one to raise his season record to 3-1.  Kreiger pitched three innings of scoreless relief, in which he gave up only three hits while fanning four without issuing a walk.

In the nightcap, junior right-hander Rob Anderson (Stratford, Conn.) continued his stellar debut season in a UB uniform, as he fired a two-hit, seven-inning completed game shutout in which he struck out nine and walked only one.  Anderson is now 6-0 on the season.

On offense in game two, the Purple Knights were by Tim Bickford, who blasted a two-run home run, and senior John Ascenzia (West Haven, Conn.) who drove in three runs and had a pair of hits.

The same two teams will close out their four-game East Coast Conference weekend series with a single, nine-inning game at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport.  First pitch is scheduled for 12 noon.