MANSFIELD, Conn. – The No. 23 Eastern Connecticut State University baseball team used strong starting pitching to lead from start-to-finish in the first game and shutdown relief pitching to come from behind in the second and post an 8-1, 10-4 Little East Conference sweep of Rhode Island College and lengthen its winning streak to 17 Saturday afternoon at the Eastern Baseball Stadium.
In the first game, junior righty Matthew Wootton (Milford) won his third game in as many decisions this year and improve his lifetime record to 11-1 by pitching into the eighth inning and allowing only four hits. In the nightcap, righty relievers Tyler Rice (Berlin), Nolan Lincoln (Londonderry, NH) and Connor Willett (Rockfall) helped the staff lower its season ERA to 3.00 by giving up only one hit over five scoreless innings while fanning three without a walk. Rice (2-0) struck out two and was touched for only one hit in 2 2/3 innings.
Rhode Island (9-9, 1-5 LEC) had swept Eastern for the second time in four years last season at Providence, RI, winning both ends of the regular-season doubleheader by a run. Eastern (18-5, 6-0 LEC) countered by defeating the Anchormen on their home field en route to the LEC tournament title.
Now 8-0 at home, Eastern has not lost since beginning the season with a 1-5 record, the most recent setback coming by a score of 3-2 three weeks ago at Guilford College. Three of its losses have come by a total of four runs.
Trailing 4-1 in the second game, Eastern tied the game with three runs in the fourth on three hits, two walks, a hit batter and passed ball and went ahead for good with two runs in the sixth on three more hits in its 17-hit attack. In the fourth, senior third baseman Tiernan Lynch (Easton) doubled home two runs after junior centerfielder Ray Leonzi (Trumbull) knocked in the first run with a single. In the fourth, senior leftfielder Josh Cofrancesco (Southington) plated the go-ahead run with an RBI double, and scored the second run of the inning on senior first baseman Ryan Parent's (Southington) single up the middle.
Senior leadoff hitter Zach Donahue (South Windsor) extended his on-base streak to 18 by stroking a two-run double in his final at-bat in the first game, and doubled and scored in the first inning and singled in a run and scored in the eighth inning of the second game. Leonzi and senior rightfielder Jason Claiborn (Prospect) each reached for the 11th and 12th straight times in the doubleheader. Leonzi was hit by a pitch in the third inning of the opener and singled in runs twice in the second game; Claiborn walked leading off the seventh inning of the first game and walked and singled in the nightcap.
In the doubleheader, nine players collected at least two hits and drove in at least one run, and 12 scored at least once. First-year junior transfer Lucas Malave (Toms River, NJ) and Parent each had four hits, with Donahue adding three (two doubles) and Donahue and junior catcher Hank Penders (Wethersfield) each driving in three runs. Malave was 4-for-5 with a double.
With one hit on the day, Claiborn moved to within 11 hit of becoming the 21st player in program history with as many as 200. Saturday, Donahue totalled his 150th career hit, and Leonzi moved to within six of 100 hits at Eastern.
As a team, Eastern batted .366 against Rhode Island to move its season average to .316 and committed only one fielding error to improve to .964 in that department.
Eastern hosts Keene State College (11-12, 3-1 LEC) Tuesday at 4 p.m. in a Little East Conference game. Keene has won five straight and is coming off Saturday's 11-4, 6-2 conference sweep of Western Connecticut.