MANSFIELD, Conn. – A game one pitchers' duel between Rhode Island College sophomore left-hander Andrew Sears and Eastern Connecticut State University Baseball's junior right-hander Billy Oldham (Brookfield) gave way to a game two offensive explosion by the Warriors (27-3, 11-1 LEC) led by junior shortstop Zach Donahue's (South Windsor) four RBIs in a crucial LEC doubleheader split with the Anchormen (21-7-1, 8-2 LEC) on Saturday afternoon at Eastern Baseball Stadium.

Losing 2-1 in game one before a 15-3 seven-inning win in game two, Eastern pitching held power hitting senior outfielder Joey Coro, who came into the game batting .437 on the season with seven home runs and 39 RBIs, to just one hit across both games. Coro finished the day going 1-for-6 with two strikeouts and being hit by a pitch twice.

On the mound, Oldham's seven innings with 125 pitches led to just two runs on six hits along with nine strikeouts and three walks in the game one loss. Senior right-hander Bryan Albee (Killingly) pitched a solid 5 2/3 innings in game two with three runs (two earned) given up on five hits with six strikeouts and a walk to earn his ninth win of the season.

Rhode Island College 2, Eastern Conn. 1

In the pitchers' duel, Sears bested Oldham throwing 121 pitches in a complete game one-run performance. The sophomore left-hander allowed seven hits while striking out nine, walking one, and allowing just two Warriors to get past second base during his start. A leadoff double from senior catcher Matt Malcom (East Lyme) resulted in a sacrifice fly by junior catcher Colby Linnell (Prospect) allowing Eastern to draw first blood, 1-0, in the second inning.

After allowing three baserunners through the first three innings, Oldham ran into trouble in the fourth inning when a leadoff single by sophomore second baseman Cal Parillo followed by a double from senior third baseman Jarrad Grossguth knotted the game back up at one.

With runners on the corners and one out, sophomore designated hitter Justin Wardwell hit a fly ball that was caught by sophomore outfielder Josh Cofrancesco (Southington). Cofrancesco fired a strike to Malcom at home who narrowly missed the tag on Grossguth, giving the Anchormen the lead, 2-1.

Only one baserunner would make it past second following the fourth, a fifth-inning triple by Parillo. Only two Eastern runners would reach third base, Malcom who scored the only Warrior run and Cofrancesco in the third inning. Sears would only reach a 3-2 count against Eastern batters twice, both against senior third baseman Luke Broadhurst (Stafford), and the aggressive Warrior bats would only look at 18 strikes thrown by Sears.
 
Eastern Conn. 15, Rhode Island College 3 (F/7)

The Warrior offense came alive against the Anchormen in game two with an explosive home run off the bat of Malcom in the second inning that gave life to the Eastern dugout. Four more Warrior runs would cross the plate in the next two innings on a Broadhurst groundout, junior second baseman Brent Coscullela's (Miami, FL) two-RBI single, and a Donahue sacrifice fly to give Eastern some breathing room, 5-0.

First-year infielder Daniel Trzepacz's RBI single with two outs after an error to begin the inning got the Anchormen on the board in the fifth before an eight-run bottom half of the inning gave the Warriors full control of the contest. The first three runs would come from a wild pitch, sacrifice fly by graduate first baseman Josh Tower (Auburn, MA), and fielder's choice by sophomore outfielder Jason Claiborn (Prospect) before Eastern's power was put on full display.

A two-RBI single by Donahue followed by an RBI single from sophomore first baseman Ryan Parent (Southington) and two-RBI double from graduate outfielder John Mesagno (Tappan, NY) netted the other five runs of the inning for the Warriors who broke open a 13-1 lead after five.

Senior catcher Alex Martinez would double home two runners in the top of the sixth for the Anchormen and Eastern would respond with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the frame, making it 15-3. Sophomore right-hander Nolan Lincoln (Londonderry, NH) came out in the top of the seventh inning in relief of junior right-hander Nathan Furino (East Haven) to retire three of the four batters he faced, earning the doubleheader split for the Warriors.

With four games left in conference play, Eastern currently holds an 11-1 record and is one game up in the loss column on Rhode Island College after the doubleheader split. Splitting their doubleheader against Southern Maine (6-5 LEC), UMass Boston (9-1 LEC) currently has two games in hand, allowing the Warriors to maintain control of the Little East Conference for the time being.

Eastern will play their first road game since April 15^th with a Little East Conference matchup with in-state rival Western Connecticut State University on Monday at Westside Field. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 PM. In their first matchup at Eastern Baseball Stadium earlier this month, the Warrior offense scored 23 runs against WestConn en route to a 23-2 victory.