MARIETTA, Ohio – Junior centerfielder Ray Leonzi (Trumbull) tied the game with an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning and No. 8 hitter Preston Irby (Bridgeport) won it with a one-out single through the left side of the infield in the tenth inning as the Eastern Connecticut State University baseball team won its second straight game at the Marietta College/BSN SPORTS Invitational, 6-5, Friday evening at Pioneer Park.
A winner of three straight, Eastern (4-5) led twice in the game by a run but needed to rally in the late innings and stop Otterbein's (9-5) four-game winning streak and hand the Cardinals just their second loss in the last seven games.
Junior All-America lefty Dan Driscoll (Waterford) struck out eight and allowed only two earned runs over the first five innings but was lifted after five innings on the short end of a 3-2 score. The Warriors scored twice to take a 4-3 lead in the sixth but stranded two runners in scoring position, and opened the door for the Cardinals, who surged ahead with two runs (one earned) in the eighth on three singles, a sacrifice bunt, walk and a failed pickoff attempt.
The Warriors tied the game in the bottom of the inning on first-year catcher Ian Moser's (Bellingham, MA) one-out single, wild pitch, passed ball, and Leonzi's opposite field single to left, and won it in the tenth. In the tenth, late-inning junior catcher Hank Penders (Wethersfield) doubled down the right field line and Irby, a senior infielder, drove the second pitch he saw through the left side of the infield.
In his second appearance, first-year junior righty Tyler Rice (Berlin) threw ten pitches in a 1-2-3 tenth for his first win. Rice got a pair of swinging strikeouts and a ground ball to end the inning.
Eastern, which scored 14 runs in each of its previous two wins, collected 16 hits against two Otterbein pitchers. Leonzi had three hits and two RBI and senior DH Alejandro Soriano (Hartford), Moser and senior first baseman Ryan Parent (Southington) all had two hits and drove in a run. Soriano scored twice and senior shortstop Zach Donahue (South Windsor) reached three times with two hits and a walk from the leadoff spot.
Eastern faces Marietta College Saturday at noon. The teams have combined for 11 national titles. The Warriors have won their titles at five different locations while Marietta captured its first four of six on its home field.