MANSFIELD, Conn. – Returning to Eastern Baseball Stadium for their first home game since Game 3 of the Little East Conference Tournament Championship last year, Eastern Connecticut State University Baseball got the bats going early against Nichols College en route to a 13-3 victory in their home opener.
Using seven unanswered runs in the second and third innings which were defined by a pair of two-RBI hits from senior second baseman Noah Plantamuro's (Bristol) second-inning single and senior first baseman Dean Slavin's (Tappan, NY) third-inning double, the Warriors (9-1) took a 7-1 lead and never looked back against the Bisons (4-7).
First-year right-hander Griffin Pontbriant (Bozrah) worked around a lead-off triple by sophomore second baseman Johnny Knox who scored on a passed ball later in the inning, before settling into a groove for 3 2/3 innings in his first collegiate start and getting help from the Eastern offense.
Trailing 1-0 in the second inning, the Warriors struck for two after a one-out walk by senior Jack Rich (Meriden) and single by senior catcher Matt Malcom (East Lyme) gave way to Plantamuro's two-RBI single, giving Eastern a 2-1 lead.
The big inning for the Warriors would come in the third as a lead-off single by junior utilityman Zach Donahue (South Windsor) and double by senior outfielder Ryan Bagdasarian (Glastonbury) quickly put two runners in scoring position. Graduate outfielder John Mesagno's (Tappan, NY) sacrifice fly and a wild pitch by junior left-hander Kyle McCutcheon drove Donahue and Bagdasarian home making it 4-1.
Senior third baseman Luke Broadhurst (Stafford) and Malcom proceeded to reach base via the walk and a single, giving way for Slavin to hit a towering fly ball into the windy skies which fell at the warning track and plated two more Warrior runs. Slavin would come around to score as sophomore Jason Claiborn (Prospect) singled up the middle in the very next at-bat, capping off seven straight runs for Eastern.
Nichols looked to respond in the fourth as graduate third baseman Nathaniel Cormier singled to begin the inning and junior outfielder Will Kleinhenz doubled him home, making it 7-2. Pontbriant would retire two of the next three batters he faced before being lifted for junior pitcher Nathan Furino (East Haven) who ended the inning by getting former Eastern catcher and current Nichols graduate catcher Kevin Murphy to foul out to Slavin at first base.
Plantamuro would tack on a run for the Warriors after singling to right field and getting caught in a rundown which allowed Claiborn to cross the plate, making it 8-2 in the fifth inning. Eastern would plate four more run on no hits in the sixth with two walks, a sacrifice fly by Slavin for his third RBI of the day, and wild pitch to charge ahead 12-2.
Senior outfielder Victor Valentin pushed a run across for the Bison on an infield fly and graduate first baseman Josh Tower (Auburn, MA) knocked a pinch-hit RBI single to get the run back for the Warriors and bring about the 13-3 final score for the afternoon.
John Mesagno extended his on-base streak to 10 games to start the season while Jason Claiborn has now reached base safely in nine consecutive games. Zach Donahue has reached base safely in seven straight games but has made it on the base path in all ten games he has appeared in, on one occasion via an error against St. Mary's College.
After 3 2/3 innings of work in which he gave up two runs on five hits with four strikeouts and one walk, Griffin Pontbriant's performance gave way to a shutout 3 1/3 innings by Nathan Furino who allowed one hit and struck out three. Furino has thrown 4 1/3 consecutive innings of shutout baseball.
Closing out the afternoon for the Warriors, senior right-hander Tim Pfaffenbichler (Windsor Locks) went the final two innings, allowing one run (unearned) on two hits with a strikeout, walk, and hit batter.
Eastern returns to action in less than 24 hours against Westfield State University at Bud & Jim Hagan Stadium tomorrow afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 3:30 PM. The last matchup between the two squads came in 2017 when the Owls came back from an 8-3 deficit to win in 10 innings, 10-9 at home.