MANSFIELD, Conn. – A lead-off home run by junior shortstop Zach Donahue (South Windsor) and two-run home run by graduate outfielder John Mesagno (Tappan, NY) provided all the offense for the Eastern Connecticut State University Baseball team against New England College which fell 7-3 at Eastern Baseball Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
 
The Warriors (12-2) got off to a fast start against junior right-hander Alex Perez with a Donahue lead-off home run on the second pitch of the game to take an early 1-0 lead. Senior outfielder Ryan Bagdasarian (Glastonbury) followed the home run with a single but was thrown out attempting to steal second during the Mesagno at-bat. Mesagno would later steal second and reach third on a throwing error, but Eastern would be unable to plate any more runs in the opening inning.
 
Junior outfielder Patrick Hagerty's RBI groundout, junior second baseman Devin Parson's RBI single, and a two-out error provided the Pioneers (6-7) with an immediate response in the second inning against sophomore right-handed starter Nolan Lincoln (Londonderry, NH) to take a 3-1 lead.
 
After a Donahue walk to lead off the third, Mesagno would hit a one-out home run off of Perez to the left of the scoreboard, tying the game up at three a piece before the Warrior bats would go cold against Perez and the rest of the New England College bullpen.
 
The Pioneers would use a three-run fifth inning on RBI singles from graduate first baseman Connor Morin, sophomore designated hitter JD Normand, and senior third baseman Tyler Gendron off junior right-handed reliever Nathan Furino (East Haven) to regain a 6-3 advantage.
 
Perez would retire eight of the last nine Eastern batters he faced before exiting after five innings giving up three runs on four hits with seven strikeouts and three walks.
 
13 consecutive Warrior hitters were retired by Perez and the Pilgrim bullpen before a one-out walk issued to Bagdasarian broke the streak. 21 of the final 24 Eastern batters that came to the plate were set down by New England College pitching while the Pilgrims added an insurance run in the eighth inning en route to their 7-3 victory over the Warriors.
 
The win was the first for New England College in three matchups all-time against Eastern with the previous two victories coming for the Warriors by way of walk-off hits. Four Pilgrim relievers combined for four innings of one-hit ball, allowing no runs while striking two, and walking one batter.
 
Going 2-for-4 on the afternoon with a single and home run in his first two at-bats of the game, John Mesagno extended his on-base streak to 32 consecutive games. Mesagno is four games away from tying the record for consecutive games reaching base safely set by Alex Zachary from 2016-2017 who set the mark at 36 consecutive games.
 
First-year right-hander Griffin Pontbriant (Bozrah), senior left-hander Aidan Dunn (Westfield, MA), and graduate right-hander Jack Wallace (Winthrop, MA) combined for 4 1/3 innings of relief in which the trio gave up one run (unearned) on three hits along with five strikeouts and two walks.
 
The Warriors return to action on Tuesday afternoon against Wheaton College at Eastern Baseball Stadium with first pitch scheduled for 4:00 PM. Eastern is 14-14 all-time against the Lyons with their last win coming during the 2017 season, 5-3. Wheaton enters the game winners in their last four games, three of which they have scored 10-plus runs, after losing five consecutive games during their spring break trip in Florida.