MANSFIELD, Conn. -- Senior second baseman Drew Accomando (Monroe) drove in five runs with a three-run home run and two singles, and later pitched a scoreless ninth inning to spark the Eastern Connecticut State University baseball team to a 16-2 non-conference victory over Becker College in its 2013 home-opener Monday afternoon at the Eastern Baseball Stadium.
Accomando's first home run of the season capped a five-run first inning for Eastern (8-1), after Becker (0-10) had reached Eastern junior righty Greg Porter (Mystic) for an unearned run in the top of the first. Accomando, 1-for-16 in his first five games, also plated a run with a single when the Warriors added two unearned runs in the second, and singled in another run when Eastern scored three unearned runs in sixth.
Porter (1-1),making his first start and appearance in over two weeks, gave up both of Becker's runs over the first five innings. He allowed only six hits – five of them singled – while striking out seven and walking one. Junior righty Michael Pendergast (Farmington), freshman righty Sam Kosterich (Stamford), junior lefty Jose Santiago (Windham) and Accomando each tossed a scoreless frame to close out the team's sixth straight win.
Contributing two hits to Eastern's 17-hit attack off five Becker pitchers in starting roles were junior third baseman Mike Vaccarelli (Wolcott), senior centerfielder Mike Riemer (Ellington), with reserves Joe Perez (North Branford), a sophomore centerfielder, and freshman leftfielder Pete Gonski (East Lyme). Gonski, who also pitches, had an RBI single and scored in his first collegiate at-bat in the fifth, and singled and scored in the eighth.
Senior DH Austin Phillips (Thomson, GA), batting eighth, had two of Becker's seven hits with a single when the Hawks scored in the second and singled and reached third in the sixth. Leadoff hitter Todd Tompkins (West Haven), a senior centerfielder, reached on an error and scored the first run of the game in the first, then drove in the team's second run with a single in the second.
Eastern hosts Bridgewater State University Wednesday at 4 p.m.