HARTFORD, Conn. – Senior righty Sam Kosterich (Stamford) pitched a five-hitter over eight innings and combined on a shutout with freshman righty Nicholas Kraszewski (East Haven) to deliver Trinity College's first shutout in the last 69 games, 6-0, Tuesday afternoon at Murren/DiBenedetto Field.
Making the fourth straight in 51 career appearances, Kosterich (1-0) scattered five singles and faced only four batters over the minimum through eight innings, fanning four without a walk and hitting one batter. He was aided by double plays started by junior shortstop Dale Keller (Oxford) in the second and fourth innings and a fly-ball 7-6-5 double play initiated by junior leftfielder Ryan Hood (Arlington, MA).
After failing to survive the first inning in his previous start three days ago, Kosterich did not allow a baserunner to reach third until the eighth, when a leadoff single, hit batter and wild pitch moved runners to second and third with one out and Eastern (5-4) leading 6-0. Kosterich got a comebacker and a swinging strikeout to end the inning.
In his third career appearance, Kraszewski retired the side in order in the ninth, fanning two.
The shutout was the first by either team in this 36-game series, with Trinity (2-5) failing to score a run for the first time since a 12-0 loss at Mitchell College March 26, 2016. Eastern has won seven of the last eight against Trinity.
The Warriors collected ten hits – Hood doubling to lead off the game and scoring and also doubling with two out in the sixth – against four Trinity pitchers, who walked only one and hit a batter.
Junior third baseman Alex Parkos' (Meriden) sacrifice fly plated Hood in the first for the only run Kosterich would need, and the All-Region right-handed hitter made it 3-0 in the third with a two-out, two-run single after freshman catcher Kevin Murphy (Springfield, MA) and Keller – batting ninth – walked to open the inning.
Murphy and Keller were also at the center of the two-run fourth, with Murphy singling home junior centerfielder Alexander White (West Hartford) and Keller's sac fly plating freshman rightfielder Anthony Stigler (Mansfield). White had singled to lead off the inning and Stigler doubled him to third.
A two-out rally and infield error accounted for the sixth run in the fifth, with junior second baseman William Coleman's (Northford) single sending in senior first baseman D.J. Scavone (Auburn, MA), who had singled with two out.
Parkos finished with three RBI to improve his team-leading total to 11, while Hood and White each had two hits and each scored a run.
Since failing to reach base in the opening game, Keller has reached first in the last eight games to improve his on-base percentage to .457 – tops among regulars.
The game was the first up north for both teams. Trinity had lost its previous two in South Carolina while Eastern was coming off an 11-10 walkoff victory over Knox College Sunday.
Eastern opens its home season Saturday at noon with a noon doubleheader against Brandeis University.