MANSFIELD, Conn. – Before the rain came pouring down at Eastern Baseball Stadium on Saturday afternoon, Eastern Connecticut State University poured on the runs in their Little East Conference doubleheader opener against Castleton University on Saturday afternoon. Earning their first two wins in LEC play this season, the Warriors (12-1, 2-0 LEC) swept the Spartans (5-8, 0-2 LEC) by final scores of 12-3 and 13-3 behind a 5-for-8 day from senior outfielder Ryan Bagdasarian (Glastonbury) who had a big three-run home run in game one along with two doubles and seven RBIs.
Eastern would quickly jump out to a 6-0 lead across the first two innings highlighted by a two-run home run from graduate outfielder John Mesagno (Tappan, NY) in the first and a double by senior third baseman Luke Broadhurst (Stafford). Senior catcher Matt Malcom's (East Lyme) sacrifice fly, an RBI single by senior second baseman Noah Plantamuro (Bristol), and a wild pitch also helped create the early lead for the Warriors.
Castleton cut the deficit in half during the third inning against junior right-hander Billy Oldham (Brookfield) with a two-run home run from junior designated hitter Hunter Perkins and an RBI single from junior catcher Carson Mosher, making it 6-3 in favor of Eastern.
A three-run home run by Bagdasarian and solo home run by Broadhurst helped the Warriors regain control, 10-3, in the sixth inning. Bagdasarian added an RBI double to his first game totals in the very next inning along with another RBI single from Plantamuro to finish off the scoring in the 12-3 game one victory.
Billy Oldham threw seven strong innings for Eastern, giving up three runs on seven hits while striking out 11 batters, walking none, and throwing 122 pitches. Oldham has now recorded double-digit strikeout totals in three of his four starts this season.
Throwing their ace in senior left-hander Zack Marlow for game two, the Spartan's kept the Eastern bats at bay for much of the first four innings. After taking a 1-0 lead on a one-out home run by senior third baseman Reece DeCastro, ending senior right-hander Bryan Albee's (Killingly) scoreless inning streak at 13 consecutive innings, the Warriors responded with two runs against Marlow in the bottom half of the inning.
Using an RBI single by Bagdasarian and a double-play ball from graduate first baseman Josh Tower (Auburn, MA), Eastern retook the lead, 2-1, and ended Marlow's 17 consecutive innings streak without allowing an earned run. The left-hander would hold the Warriors to three baserunners over the next three innings via two walks and a hit batter before Eastern came alive in the fifth inning.
Another Bagdasarian RBI double and RBI singles from Broadhurst and Malcom gave the Warriors some breathing room, 5-1, while simultaneously ending Marlow's day after five innings giving up five runs on six hits with four walks and four strikeouts. Three more runs via error and wild pitch would come across for Eastern in the sixth, opening up an 8-1 edge over the Spartans.
Castleton would strike back with two in the eighth before the Warriors capped off the afternoon with a five-run inning with a two-RBI single from senior first baseman Dean Slavin (Tappan, NY) putting the 10-run conference game mercy rule into effect, giving Eastern the 13-3 win.
Bryan Albee earned his fourth win of the season in game two, going seven innings while giving up one run on three hits, a career-high 10 strikeouts, and a walk. While used as an opener earlier this season, this was only the right-handers second career appearance making an extended start on the mound, the last coming against Wesleyan University during the 2019 season.
With his first-inning home run in game one and a first-inning walk in game two, John Mesagno extended his streak of reach base safely to 31 consecutive games dating back to last season. The most recent player to have an on-base streak of that length came during the 2016-2017 season when outfielder Alex Zachary reached base safely in 36 consecutive games, 35 of which he recorded a hit in to earn him the longest hitting streak in program history. Mesagno went 2-for-5 on the afternoon with his home run, three RBIs, and four walks.
First-year outfielder Emmanuel Zaiter (Miami, FL) worked a walk in his first collegiate plate appearance in the eighth inning of game one. The Miami, Florida native would play the field in the ninth inning at third base.
Noah Plantamuro finished the day going 3-for-5 with three singles, two RBIs, and two walks to raise his batting average to .429 on the season. The doubleheader moved Plantamuro to second in the Little East Conference for batting average behind only UMass-Dartmouth sophomore infielder Jared Neikam who is hitting .432 in 14 games played this year.
The Warriors return to action tomorrow at Eastern Baseball Stadium against New England College with first pitch scheduled for 12:30 PM. In the two-game history between the teams, Eastern has walked off both times against the Pilgrims in 2019 and 2021. Both 4-3 victories, second baseman William Coleman was the hero in the first-ever matchup with an RBI double to win it while John Mesagno got the curtain call last season with a solo home run.