The Norwich Sea Unicorns battled back in the late innings to defeat the Road Warriors 3-2 to win their third consecutive ballgame. Norwich is now 8-3 and are back atop the Futures League standings with a league best .722-win percentage after 11 games.
Norwich opened the scoring in the bottom of the third inning to take an early 1-0 lead. Anthony Tirado began the inning with a lead off single into center field. Tirado later stole second base to advance into scoring position. Later in the inning, Brennan Hyde delivered with an RBI single poked into center field to bring home Tirado. The RBI for Hyde is his team leading 9th of the summer.
It was a pitchers’ duel at Dodd Stadium between Norwich starter Teo Spadaccini and Road Warrior starter Owen McHugh. Both starters went 5 innings for their respective teams and the only run that crossed the plate was the run for Norwich in the third. McHugh allowed 5 hits scattered throughout his innings, and Spadaccini turned in his most quality start of the summer allowing just 2 hits over his 5 innings work while striking out four.
The late innings sparked the offense at Dodd Stadium and set up a dramatic finish on Thirsty Thursday. Joe Muzio gave the Road Warriors the lead with a towering 2-run home run over the right field wall against reliever AJ Rooks. Once again Norwich faced another late inning deficit in a one-run contest. Norwich already this season has played in 7 games decided by two-runs or fewer including last night. Ryan Grace once again was the saving grace for the Sea Unicorns, delivering a game-tying RBI triple off the right field wall to drive home Alex Irizarry from first. Christian Stratis followed with a one-out RBI single rocketed into left field to restore the lead for Norwich in the home half of the 8th.
Giovanni Conte locked down the victory for Norwich recording the final 8 outs after entering the game with one-out in the top of the 7th. Conte shined once again for the Sea Unicorns to continue his dominance out of the bullpen allowing just 1 hit while punching out three. The UCONN product has allowed just 2 hits all summer through 8.2 innings of work along with 10 strikeouts.
The three-game homestand was a perfect one for the Sea Unicorns as they outscored their opponents by a run margin of 17 to 6. Norwich will head to the road tonight for a meeting with the Worcester Bravehearts at Fitton Field before returning home on Saturday for a 2-game series with the Brockton Rox this weekend. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. EST.