In what turned out to be a nice afternoon at J.O. Christian Field in Storrs, freshman pitcher Ronnie Rossomando shined to grab victory for the Huskies. Two runs turned out to be all the support UConn pitchers would need as Jim Penders' squad was locked up a 2-1 win over the Fairfield University Stags Tuesday afternoon.
Rossomando provided the Huskies with 7.0 strong innings of work on the way to earning his first career win. He let up just one earned run on five Fairfield hits. The freshman also tallied three strikeouts in what ended up being the longest start in his nascent collegiate career.
UConn was able to get on the board early with a solo home run off the bat of captain Bobby Melley in the bottom of the first, giving UConn a 1-0 advantage. The home run was the fifth on the year for Melley, who continues the hot streak at the plate. This was the 21st time in 30 games the Huskies were able to score first.
The score remained 1-0 until the bottom of the fourth. With runners at the corners, catcher Alex Lefevre launched a sacrifice fly to deep right field, allowing Joe DeRoche-Duffin to tag up from third. UConn led 2-0 heading to the fifth.
The Stags were able to get to Rossomando a bit in the top of the sixth inning as a string of hits cut the UConn lead to 2-1. The freshman stayed poised, however, and got out of the jam, minimizing the damage.
Following a scoreless seventh, Rossomando was replaced by Randy Polonia and Pat Ruotolo. Polonia gave the Huskies 0.2 innings and was replaced by closer Pat Ruotolo who finished off the final 1.1 innings to lock up his first save of the season.
Shortstop Bryan Daniello kept his hitting streak alive Tuesday, extending it to 10 games. Joe DeRoche-Duffin and Bobby Melley both recorded multi-hit games in the win as the UConn seniors continue to drive the offense.
With the win, UConn moves to 15-15 on the season and extends its winning streak against Fairfield to 11.
The Huskies move to 13-12 in non-conference play on the year. Next up for UConn is a matchup against Bryant University on Wednesday, April 13th at J.O. Christian Field. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m.