FORT MYERS, Fla. – It was the toughest test of the season for Eastern Connecticut State University Baseball, but the fourth in the nation Warriors (7-0) never backed down against United States Merchant Marine Academy on Wednesday afternoon at Lee County Player Development Complex. After trailing twice in the game, once by two runs and late in the game by four runs, senior catcher Matt Malcom (East Lyme) finished the Eastern comeback with a monster home run to left field to defeat USMMA (3-6) in 11 innings, 7-6.
After senior left-hander Aidan Dunn (Westfield, MA) worked out of a first-inning jam and finished the second inning quickly, the senior would run into some trouble in the third frame. USMMA's sophomore first baseman Tyler Reistetter led off with a single and a fielder's choice allowing senior third baseman Noah Herdman to reach safely with one out in the inning. First-year outfielder Derek Vanasse hit a double just inside the first base line, scoring Reistetter for the first run of the game.
Sophomore outfielder Jason Claiborn (Prospect) prevented a second run from scoring on the play after relaying the throw into graduate first baseman Josh Tower (Auburn, MA) who threw it to Malcom at the plate for the second out. An error allowing first-year first baseman Travis Leatherwood to reach base extended the inning for first-year catcher Garrett Clapsaddle to knock an RBI single up the middle to put USMMA ahead, 2-0.
At this point, Dunn would exit the game having gone 2 2/3 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on four hits while walking two and striking out one. Junior right-hander Nathan Furino (East Haven) would come into the game and get out of the jam to keep the Warrior deficit at two runs.
First-year right-hander Jacob Syversen went to work against the Eastern lineup early on. After allowing junior utilityman Zach Donahue (South Windsor) to reach base on the first at-bat of the game, Syversen would retire 11 of the next 12 Warrior batters he faced until they mounted their first comeback with one out in the fifth inning.
After Tower walked, the Eastern offense would manufacture three straight singles with Claiborn and Malcom each moving Tower over a base. Senior first baseman Dean Slavin (Tappan, NY) would lift a shallow fly ball to right field that dropped behind diving senior outfielder Brayden O'Connell, scoring the Warrior's first run of the day. Sophomore first baseman Alejandro Soriano (Hartford) would get the call to pinch-hit and lined a fielder's choice to center field which tied the game up at two.
USMMA would respond immediately to Eastern's rally against Furino in the sixth inning. With two outs and runners on second and third, junior shortstop Jared Chambers hit a hard single down the left-field line to score both runners and put Merchant Marine ahead by two, 4-2. The next batter in Noah Herdman would hit a home run into the lake behind the field at Lee County Player Development Complex, ending Furino's relief appearance and giving USMMA a 6-2 lead.
The Warriors would begin chipping away in the bottom half of the inning, making the most of an error by first-year second baseman Jack Millen which allowed Tower to reach and put two runners on for Eastern. Claiborn would double into the left-field corner, scoring two runs to bring the Warriors back within two, 6-4.
Sophomore right-hander Nolan Lincoln (Londonderry, NH) threw a scoreless seventh inning before Eastern went back to work in the home half. Doubles by junior second baseman Brent Cosculluela (Miami, FL) and then graduate outfielder John Mesagno (Tappan, NY) helped put the Warriors down 6-5. Senior outfielder Ryan Bagdasarian (Glastonbury) laced a two-out single, scoring Mesagno and tying the game up at six apiece.
Two scoreless innings of relief for graduate right-hander Jack Wallace (Winthrop, MA) and stout bullpen relief from senior right-hander Quinton Heck kept the Warriors at bay and sent the game to extra innings.
Merchant Marine would threaten to take control in the 10th inning against graduate right-hander Tommy Benincaso (Norwalk) after a Donahue error and stolen base put Jack Millen in scoring position with nobody out. Junior outfielder Joey Zanetti hit a line drive single to Bagdasarian in center field, but a tremendous throw by the senior outfielder prevented Millen from scoring and instead put runners at second and third with nobody out.
Benincaso proceeded to strike out the two and three hitters in Reistetter and Chambers swinging before intentionally walking Herdman the cleanup hitter and bringing Vanasse to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. On the first pitch of the at-bat, Benincaso got Vanasse to line out to Bagdasarian, ending the threat and keeping the game tied.
In the 11th inning, pinch-hitting sophomore outfielder Kellen Brown reached base via a walk issued by senior right-hander Bryan Albee (Killingly) who came in to relieve Benincaso. One batter later, Malcom would throw out Brown trying to steal second before Albee got pinch-hitting senior infielder Jared Johnson swinging for strike three to end the half-inning.
The game-winning home run would come on just the second pitch of Matt Malcom's at-bat as the senior lifted the pitch from Heck, who was beginning his fourth inning of relief pitching, over the fence in left field to make it five unanswered runs for the Warriors en route to their 7-6 victory in 11 innings.
Before giving up the game-winning home run, USMMA reliever Quinton Heck pitched three scoreless innings of relief, allowing one hit, striking out three, and walking one.
For Eastern, the relief pitching of Nolan Lincoln, Jack Wallace, Tommy Benincaso, and Bryan Albee combined for 5 1/3 scoreless innings while giving up only two hits while striking out six and walking three.
Zach Donahue and Jason Claiborn extended their on-base streaks to seven games while also extending their hitting streaks to four games and three games, respectively.
Dean Slavin (1-for-4) and Ryan Bagdasarian (2-for-5) both extended their hitting streaks to six games.
Alejandro Soriano and John Mesagno have both recorded RBIs in each of the last three games. The duo both drove in one run in the win over USMMA.
The Warriors will have the day off on Thursday but return to action in Fort Myers, Florida on Friday morning. First pitch is scheduled for 9:00 AM at Terry Park Sports Complex as Eastern will take the University of Wisconsin-Stout in a rematch of Monday morning's game which they won 20-3. This will be the second matchup between the two teams in program history.