New Britain, Conn. (May 8, 2009)—Mount St. Mary's swept a Northeast Conference doubleheader at Central Connecticut State on Friday afternoon at Beehive Stadium in New Britain. The Mount held off the Blue Devils, 4-3, in the opening game before rallying for a 9-8 win in extra innings in the second game.

Mount St. Mary's (20-22, 12-8 NEC) closer Mike Matta picked up a save and a win on the day, pitching a combined five innings of scoreless relief on the day. Freshman Josh Winter went 4-for-7 with five RBI in the twinbill while sophomore Steve Benvenuto drove in the winning run in the top of the ninth in the 9-8 victory.

In the opening game, Winter laced a two-run double down the left-field line to snap a 2-2 in the top of the sixth to lead the Mount to a 4-3 victory. In the inning, Jacob Darr singled with one out and then stole second base. Kyle Kane was walked and Matt Staso was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs. Winter followed with his two-run double to break the tie.

Central Connecticut (22-17, 12-9 NEC) tried to rally in the bottom half of the inning as Casey Walko doubled, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on an Anthony Scialdone groundout to cut the Mount's lead to 4-3. The Blue Devils then put runners at second and third with two outs, but Matta got a groundout to second to end the threat.

Matta was able to seal the win in the seventh, sandwiching three strikeouts around a walk and a single, to earn his sixth save of the season.

Mount St. Mary's struck first with an unearned run in the top half of the first inning. Matta, who opened the game playing left field for the Mount, led off and reached second base on an error by Central Connecticut's center fielder. He moved to third on a groundout and scored when Kane's grounder to first was misplayed.

The Mount added a run in the top of the second. Winter and Joe Kavanagh recorded back-to-back one-out singles to put runners on first and second. A wild pitch moved the runners up 90 feet, but Winter was then caught at home trying to score on a wild pitch. Sophomore catcher Alex Andrews, however, came through with a clutch two-out single to bring home Kavanagh for a 2-0 Mount lead.

The Blue Devils tied the game with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Pat Epps and Jay Schillaci opened the inning with singles. Richie Tri moved the runners up with a sacrifice bunt, but the Mount's Costa Kapothanasis struck out the next batter for the second out. Sean Parker, however, drove home both runners with a double to even the score at 2-2. Kapothanasis struck out the final batter to prevent further damage.

Kapothanasis had a strong start for the Mount, striking out three and allowing three runs in 5.2 innings to earn the victory to improve to 4-2 on the season. At the plate, Darr and Winter each went 2-for-3 in the victory.

Walko, Epps and Schillaci recorded two hits apiece in the loss for the Blue Devils. Scialdone went 0-for-3 in the game for CCSU, snapping his 28-game hit streak. Ken Kerski struck out 11 while allowing four runs (two earned) to take the loss.

In the second game, the Mount rallied from an 8-6 deficit to earn the extra-inning victory. A two-out rally cut the Mount's deficit to 8-7 in the top of the sixth. Tommy Flynn doubled and moved to third on a Buddy Fields single. A Chris Chagnon wild pitch allowed Flynn to score with Fields moving to second. Darr was walked, but Kane was retired on a fly out to end the inning.

The Mount tied the game with a run in the top of the seventh. Eyler doubled and moved to third on a Staso sacrifice bunt. Winter followed with an RBI double to even the score.

Matta was able to escape a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings. Tri singled and a Mount error on a sacrifice attempt put runners on second and third with no outs. Matta intentionally walked Parker to load the bases. Matta then got a grounder to first and a grounder to third with the Mount getting the force out at home to preserve the tie. Walko then grounded out to Matta to end the inning.

The game-winning rally came in the top of the ninth. Eyler opened the frame with a double and after a pair of pop-outs, moved to third on a passed ball. Benvenuto then came to the plate and singled to plate Eyler with the go-ahead run. Matta retired the side in the bottom of the ninth to seal the win.

Eyler went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a pair of RBI in game two while Winter was 2-for-4 with three RBI. Staso, Flynn and Fields each had two hits in the win. Starting pitcher Kent Worthington allowed four runs in 3.1 innings while Max Brittenham gave up four runs (three earned) in two innings of relief. Matta tossed 3.2 innings of one-hit shutout ball to earn the win and improve to 4-1 on the year.

Allaire went 3-for-5 with three runs scored with Tri adding a 3-for-5 day for CCSU in the loss.

The Mount scored four times in the top of the second inning to grab a 4-1 advantage. Kane singled up the middle, Eyler was hit by a pitch and Matt Staso walked to load the bases for first baseman Winter. The freshman promptly followed with a two-run single to give the Mount the lead.

Designated hitter Benvenuto bunted the runners over for Zach Helman, who delivered a two-run single to give the Mountaineers a three-run advantage.

CCSU scored five times in the bottom of the fourth inning to take the lead. Tri opened the frame with a double and came home on a Parker two-base hit to cut the Mount's lead to 4-3. Mitch Wells and Allaire followed with back-to-back singles with Parker scoring on Allaire's base hit to even the score. A passed ball allowed the runners to move up and Wells scored on a Walko groundout to break the tie. Scialdone and Epps each added run-scoring singles to give the Blue Devils a 7-4 advantage.

Mount St. Mary's rallied with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth to cut the deficit to 7-6. Fields singled and CCSU committed an error on a grounder by Darr to put runners on second and third with no outs. After Kane grounded out, Eyler singled to center field to drive home both runners to cut the CCSU lead to one.

Central Connecticut got one run back in the bottom of the fifth after Tri doubled, moved to third on a Meade single and scored on a Parker fly out.

The teams will complete the four-game series tomorrow with the completion of Thursday's suspended game coming first at 1:00 p.m. with the nine-inning game to follow. In the suspended game, CCSU holds a 7-6 lead in the top of the eighth inning.

Game Notes... Central Connecticut State holds a 18-16 lead in the all-time series...The Mount has won 12 of the past 16 meetings between the two teams...CCSU entered the day in a three-way tie for first place in the NEC with Wagner and Sacred Heart.