PURCHASE, N.Y. – In their final game before traveling to Fort Myers, Florida for six games over spring break week, Eastern Connecticut State University Baseball pounded out 21 hits on the road against Purchase College en route to a 10-3 victory on Friday afternoon.
The Warriors (4-0) move to 4-0 on the road to start the young season, their best mark in a decade after four consecutive road wins over Whitman College to kick off the 2012 season saw them begin the year with the same mark.
Eight different pitchers and nine different position players outside of the starting nine, seven of which recorded at-bats, saw action for Eastern against the Panthers (0-7).
After a scoreless first two innings, the Warriors drew first blood as back-to-back one-out singles by junior Zach Donahue (South Windsor), who got the start at shortstop, and graduate outfielder John Mesagno (Tappan, NY) led to a two-run third inning. Senior outfielders Jack Rich (Meriden) and Ryan Bagdasarian (Glastonbury) knocked home Donahue and Mesagno with back-to-back two-out singles, putting Eastern in front 2-0 after three.
Warrior pitching would not allow Purchase College to reach base until there were two outs in the fourth inning, retiring the first 11 batters they faced. Senior right-hander Bryan Albee (Killingly) and sophomore right-hander Nolan Lincoln (Londonderry, NH) held the Panthers hitless through the first three innings.
First-year right-handed reliever Griffin Pontbriant (Bozrah), senior right-hander Tim Pfaffenbichler (Windsor Locks), and transfer graduate right-hander Jack Wallace (Winthrop, MA) each threw an inning in the middle part of the game, allowing a combined no runs on two hits while striking out five batters and walking just one.
Eastern would add to their lead in the sixth as three straight singles led to sophomore first baseman Ryan Parent's (Southington) pinch-hit RBI single to put the Warriors ahead 3-0. The single was the first hit and run batted in of Parent's collegiate career.
In the seventh, three more Eastern runs were added to the scoreboard as senior first baseman Dean Slavin (Tappan, NY) hit a sacrifice fly and senior shortstop Noah Plantamuro (Bristol) recorded a two-RBI single to double the Warrior lead and make it 6-0.
Purchase College would respond by cutting the Eastern lead in half during the bottom half of the frame against junior right-hander Andre Jose (Windham). Sophomore outfielder Myles Scarry knocked home a run on an RBI single to left-center before scoring on a single by junior infielder Louis Carvell who scored a short while later, making it 6-3 in favor of the Warriors.
Also recording his first collegiate hit and run batted in, junior catcher Colby Linnell (Prospect) laced a pinch-hit single in the eighth inning to put Eastern ahead by four, 7-3. Transfer graduate infielder Josh Tower (Auburn, MA) doubled in two runs, earning his first extra-base hit and RBIs as a Warrior.
Sophomore catcher Matthew Bradbury (Newtown) recorded his first RBI in a Warrior uniform as well in the eighth on a sacrifice fly. The four-run eighth inning gave Eastern a 10-3 lead, the eventual final score in their victory over the Panthers.
Seeing action for the first time in their collegiate careers for the Warriors beyond Linnell, sophomore first baseman Alejandro Soriano (Hartford) and sophomore outfielder Josh Cofrancesco (Southington) saw time in the field. Cofrancesco appeared at the plate for his first collegiate at-bat in the eighth inning, flying out to center field.
Junior second baseman Mark Bagdasarian (Wethersfield) made his first collegiate start for the Warriors alongside related player Ryan Bagdasarian. The Bagdasarian duo becomes only the fourth related-player duo in the history of Eastern's baseball program to start a game in the field.
Ryan Bagdasarian went a perfect 3-for-3 on the afternoon, scoring three times while driving in one run, walking twice, and swiping three bases. Bagdasarian leads the team in average to start the season, hitting .500 in the first four games.
Zach Donahue earned his first multi-hit game for the Warriors, going 3-for-5 with three singles, scoring once, and stealing one base.
13 different players recorded hits for Eastern and eight different players recorded an RBI in the contest.
Three was the magic number for the Warrior bullpen as Nolan Lincoln, Tim Pfaffenbichler, and transfer graduate right-hander Tommy Benincaso (Norwalk) each recorded three strikeouts in four combined innings of work.
Eastern's pitching has allowed 10 runs (eight earned) through four games, leading to a 2.00 ERA to start the season.
The Warriors will travel to Fort Myers, Florida over the weekend before kicking off a stretch of six games in six days in the Sunshine State. The action starts on Monday morning at 9:00 AM against the University of Wisconsin-Stout at Lee County Player Development Complex. This will be the first time Eastern faces the Blue Devils in program history.