MANSFIELD, Conn. – Senior righty Jordan Muchin (West Hartford) pitched a six-hitter with eight strikeouts for his second complete game in four starts, and sophomore rightfielder Luke Broadhurst (Stafford) and junior leftfielder John Mesagno (Tappan, NY) combined for nine RBI and four extra-base hits as the Eastern Connecticut State University baseball team downed Keene State College, 13-2 in seven innings in the first game of Little East Conference baseball doubleheader Saturday at the Eastern Baseball Stadium.
In the second game, Eastern (9-7, 3-2 LEC) scored once in the eighth but stranded the tying and go-ahead runs on base in the inning and the tying run on second in the ninth in a 6-5 loss.
Muchin (3-1) was given a 2-0 lead before taking the mound and the Warriors broke it open with a six-run fifth, five of the runs crossing on Broadhurst's grand slam that was followed by Mesagno's solo shot. Broadhurst also tripled in Eastern's first run in the first and scored the second run of the inning on Mesagno's RBI single. Mesagno also doubled and scored in the third and poked a two-run single when the Warriors scored two unearned runs in the fourth. The homer was the first of two on the day for Broadhurst, who has collected ten extra-base hits among 17 hits this year. The home run was the first of Mesagno's career.
Neither of Eastern's second-game pitchers walked a batter. Senior lefty Nick Rascati (Wallingford) allowed only two hits and no earned runs with two strikeouts in 3 1/3 relief innings of junior righty John Parker (Brunswick, ME). Parker (1-3) was lifted in Keene's four-run fifth. He fanned five.
Broadhurst tripled and homered in each game, drove in six runs and scored five. On the day, three of Mesagno's five hits went for extra bases. He plated five and scored three and stole a base. Senior second baseman William Coleman (Northford), senior first baseman Alex Parkos (Meriden) and freshman third baseman Owen Marica (Haddam) all contributed three hits in two games, with Marica scoring three times.
Eastern visits Wheaton College Sunday at 11 a.m. in a non-conference game. The game was originally slated for a 1 p.m. start.