MANSFIELD, Conn. – Junior Josh Cofrancesco (Southington) and sophomore Hank Penders (Wethersfield) each had four hits and sophomore leadoff hitter Ray Leonzi (Trumbull) drove in four runs in Eastern Connecticut State University's 13-5 non-conference baseball win over WPI Wednesday afternoon at the Eastern Baseball Stadium.
A winner of four straight after a two-game losing streak, No. 4 nationally-ranked Eastern (15-3) collected 20 hits off six WPI (10-7) pitchers, finally breaking the game open by scoring seven runs on nine hits in its final two at-bats after the Engineers had cut the Warriors' lead to two on No. 3 hitter Kyle Johns' three-run home run in the fifth.
The Warriors scored three runs with two out in the seventh on Penders' RBI single and Leonzi's two-run single to make it 9-4, and tacked on four more in the eighth on RBI singles by Cofrancesco and Penders and No. 9 hitters Noah Plantamuro's (Bristol) two-run double which carried halfway up the left field fence.
Making his first appearance in 12 days , first-year righty Dylan Scudder (Simsbury) won his second game in three decisions with relief help from three teammates. All four runs off Scudder came on home runs by Andrew Cash – a one-out solo shot in the fourth to center that sliced Eastern's early two-run lead to one – and Johns' three-run bomb over the left field fence.
Senior righty Nathan Furino (East Haven) kept the Engineers from pulling any closer with three innings of stellar relief. Furino faced only ten batters over the middle three innings, allowing only a two-out single in the seventh while fanning four without a walk. Furino threw 24 of his 39 pitches for strikes.
Leonzi drove in four runs with his two-run double in the fourth and a two-run, two-out single in the seventh. Penders had four singles, scored three runs and drove in two, and Cofrancesco reached five times with four hits and a walk, scored twice and drove in a run. He had RBI singles in the third and eighth and tripled and scored in the seventh. Plantamuro also had a sacrifice fly that drove in Eastern's first run in the second, reached on a bunt single and scored the second run in the four-run fourth and singled and scored in the three-run seventh before delivering his two-run double in the four-run eighth.
Junior rightfielder Jason Claiborn (Prospect), batting third, reached four times with three hits and a walk, drove in a run, scored two and stole his eighth and ninth bases of the year in ten tries.
No. 2 hitter Jeffrey Brennan of WPI reached base in all five plate appearances, twice legging out infield hits and also singling in the seventh and walking in the ninth. Johns reached four times on his three-run home run, two walks (one with the bases loaded) and a hit-by-pitch and drove in four runs.
Eastern faces Castleton University in a Little East Conference doubleheader this weekend, with the time, day and site not yet determined.