Southern Connecticut State University head baseball coach Tim Shea broke the program record for career wins with the 467th of his career, passing Joe Bandiera’s record of 466, as the Owls topped the College of Saint Rose, 3-1. With the win, the Owls pick up a crucial win in Northeast 10 Conference Southwest Division play to improve to 8-9 in the divisional standings and 19-25 overall.
Shea’s 467 career wins have come over the course of 17 seasons as the Owls’ head coach beginning in 2001 after serving as Bandiera’s top assistant for the previous 11 seasons. Shea has averaged 27 wins per season across his career and has led Southern to six NCAA Tournament appearances (2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2017) as well as a pair of NCAA College World Series berths (2005, 2011). He also has nine 30-win campaigns under his belt including a program-record 45 wins in 2011 that saw the Owls win the NE10 Regular-Season Championship, the NCAA Regional and finish the year as NCAA National Championship Semifinalists.
Ronnie Rossomando (Stratford, Conn.) pitched a gem for the Owls, holding Saint Rose to a single run on seven hits while striking out seven over eight innings. Rossomando gave up a run on a pair of hits in the first inning before holding the Golden Knights scoreless over the next seven frames. A day after committing four errors in a 5-4 win at New Haven, the Owls defense spun two double plays to end the 3rd and 5th innings while Rossomando retired nine-straight batters from the end of the 5th through the top of the 8th.
At the plate, John Spoto (Stamford, Conn.) put the Owls on the board with a two-run double in the bottom of the 5th inning while Jim Palmer (Milford, Conn.) also drove in a run. Nick Lamberti (East Haven, Conn.) was 2-for-3 with a walk.
