MANSFIELD, Conn. – D3Baseball.com Team of the Week senior right-handed pitcher Aidan Dunn (Westfield, MA) spun an impressive 5 1/3 innings in which he recorded 11 strikeouts in game one while the hot bat of senior outfielder Ryan Bagdasarian (Glastonbury) who went 4-for-8 with a double, an RBI, and three runs scored to help lead Eastern Connecticut State University Baseball to a doubleheader sweep over Manhattanville College on Wednesday afternoon.

Winning by final scores of 3-1 and 11-6, the bat of Bagdasarian along with a 3-for-6 afternoon from graduate outfielder John Mesagno (Tappan, NY) who knocked in three RBIs in game two, helped the Warriors (25-2) outlast the resilient Valiants (17-13) en route to a doubleheader sweep at Eastern Baseball Stadium. Senior third baseman Luke Broadhurst (Stafford) tacked on his ninth home run of the season, a solo home run, during his 2-for-5 afternoon in which the Stafford native drove home three total runs while scoring twice himself.

The Eastern offense recorded 12 stolen bases across both games of the doubleheader, including eight stolen bases in their game two victory.

Eastern Conn. 3, Manhattanville 1 (F/7)

A one-out double by senior outfielder Ryan Bagdasarian (Glastonbury) led to the first Warrior run of the game against sophomore right-hander Ian Murray after Bagdasrian advanced to third on a wild pitch and was driven home by a sacrifice fly from Broadhurst. Another wild pitch by Murray in the second inning would drive the second Eastern run home making it 2-0.

The 99th hit of senior outfielder Jack Rich's (Meriden) career drove home senior catcher Matt Malcom (East Lyme) in the fourth inning, giving the Warriors a 3-0 lead. Rich would record his 100^th hit in the sixth inning of the game, the 109^th game of his Eastern career, on an infield single to junior third baseman Jake Parisi who attempted to make a diving stop. The Meriden native becomes the second Warrior player to reach 100 hits this season with Malcom being the first against Trinity College on April 5^th. Rich has appeared in 21 games this season, batting .343 in 70 at-bats with two home runs and 23 RBIs.

Manhattanville would load up the bases in the sixth inning against Dunn before senior right-hander Bryan Albee (Killingly) came on in relief with one out. Albee struck out the first batter he faced before walking in the only run of the game for the Valiants and then escaping the inning when junior outfielder Michael Musantry grounded into a fielder's choice.
 
Working a scoreless seventh inning, Albee earned his first save of the season and the second of his career. Earning his third win of the season, Aidan Dunn spun 5 1/3 innings of two-hit ball while striking out 11 batters, including four batters in the first inning for the second time in his career, walking three, and being charged with the lone Manhattanville run.

Eastern Conn. 11, Manhattanville 6 (F/7)

The Valiants took a quick 2-0 lead after loading the bases against senior right-hander Zach Player (East Hampton) and getting a two-RBI single from sophomore second baseman Anthony Pressimone against sophomore right-hander Kevin McIntyre (Southington) making his second career relief appearance. Responding right away in the bottom of the first, a two-run single from Mesagno knotted the game back at two apiece.

A pair of RBI singles from graduate first baseman Josh Tower (Auburn, MA) and sophomore outfielder Alejandro Soriano (Hartford) put the Warriors ahead by two, 4-2 against junior right-hander Sean Demo who got the start for Manhattanville in game two. Capping off a stretch of eight unanswered runs, a four-run fourth inning with a Broadhurst RBI single, sacrifice flies from Mesagno and junior catcher Colby Linnell (Prospect), and an error by Pressimone at second base, Eastern jumped out to an 8-2 lead after four innings.

Cutting into the deficit with RBI singles from Musantry and senior infielder Tyler Viscusi, the Valiants trailed only by four, 8-4, before the Broadhurst solo home run in the bottom half of the inning, helped the Warriors get a run back. Two more Manhattanville runners would come across, making it 9-6, after RBI singles from graduate designated hitter Joseph Silvestri and first-year catcher Joe LaPorta in the sixth. With runners on second and third, senior right-hander Tim Pfaffenbichler (Windsor Locks) struck out first-year outfielder Anthony Caputo to end the scoring threat.

Small ball by Eastern in the bottom of the sixth helped the Warriors get the two runs back with a sacrifice squeeze by senior infielder Noah Plantamuro (Bristol) and a Bagdasarian single pushed the Eastern lead back to five, 11-6. In his second full inning of relief, Pfaffenbichler would allow the first two Manhattanville batters to reach before retiring the next three batters to finish off the doubleheader sweep with an 11-6 victory.

With a 0-for-3 afternoon at the plate in game one, All-America outfielder John Mesagno's streak of reaching base safely ended at 43 consecutive games. Mesagno's on-base streak becomes the second longest in program history behind only All-America and professional baseball draftee Joe Funaro during the 1994-1995 seasons.

Eastern will play their fourth game in three days with a matchup against Salve Regina University scheduled for tomorrow night with first pitch set for 6:00 PM at Eastern Baseball Stadium. The two teams last met in Lakeland, Florida back in 2018 in which the Seahawks won by a final score of 7-5.