BROOKLYN, N.Y.— The LIU Brooklyn baseball team rallied from a five run deficit to beat CCSU, 8-6 on Friday afternoon.
 
The Blackbirds offense recorded 13 hits against the Blue Devils at LIU Field. Four batters registered multi-hit games as seniors Alex Briggs and Luiny Monegro along with junior Rob Griswold and sophomore Colin Adams recorded two hits each. Adams and senior Brock Hallum led the way with two runs scored and senior Andrew Smith drove in a pair of runs.
 
CCSU stormed out of the gate with five runs in the top of the first, capitalizing on four hits along with a Blackbirds error.
 
The Blackbirds grabbed one run back in the bottom of the first inning on a two-out RBI single up the middle from senior Gregory Vaughn Jr. to bring the score to 5-1.
 
The Blue Devils pushed the lead to five with a one-out RBI single in the top half of the second inning.
 
LIU responded with three runs in the bottom of the second inning to cut into the CCSU lead. Senior Joe Mercadante recorded a RBI double to left field with a pair of runners on and one out. Griswold then lined a single into center field before Hallum recorded a RBI groundout to put the score at 6-4.
 
The scoring would slow down for the next two innings before the Blue Devils put a runner on second and third with one out in the top of the fifth. Freshman Alec Huertas came up big with back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning.
 
LIU picked up a one-out single from Hallum and a double down the left field line from Briggs in the bottom of the fifth. After a strikeout, Smith stepped to the plate and lined a single into left center field to tie the game up at 6-6.
 
The Blackbirds continued to hit in the next frame as Adams picked up a one-out single. Monegro then lined a double into the gap in left center field that allowed Adams to score from first on a error by CCSU for the one-run lead.
 
LIU plated its final run of the ballgame in the bottom of the seventh on a RBI single to left field by Adams with two outs to push the score to 8-6.
 
CCSU threatened with the bases loaded in the top of the eight but senior Mike Kreiger picked up a huge strikeout to end the inning. He closed the game out with a one-two-three inning in the ninth to give LIU the win.
 
Huertas was phenomenal in relief for the Blackbirds throwing five and two thirds innings. He surrendered just five hits to the Blue Devils and fanned eight batters. Kreiger earned his eighth save of the season, pitching the final inning and a third.

UP NEXT
 
The Blackbirds will close out the regular season at LIU Field tomorrow with a 1:00 p.m. start. LIU will honor 13 members of the class of 2019 prior to the game,  the senior day ceremony is slated to start at 12:40 p.m.