MANSFIELD, Conn. – Honoring 10 seniors for Senior Day at Eastern Baseball Stadium, Eastern Connecticut State University Baseball earned a pair of wins over Roger Williams University on Saturday afternoon, 5-2 and 4-2, to sweep the three-game series versus the Hawks (26-7-1), who have received votes in the D3Baseball.com national poll and are ranked third in the NEIBA poll.

Early offense from the second nationally-ranked Warriors (32-3) in game one and a clutch two-out, bases-clearing triple from senior catcher Matt Malcom (East Lyme) in the seventh inning of game two highlighted Eastern's statement against a strong starting pitching duo of graduate ace left-hander Justin Garcia and graduate right-hander Chris Flynn who started both games for Roger Williams.
 
Eastern Conn. 5, Roger Williams U. 2

Squaring off against Garcia, who entering the game gave up four earned runs in eight starts this season, the Eastern offense got to Garcia early when senior outfielder Ryan Bagdasarian (Glastonbury) walked and graduate infielder Josh Tower (Auburn, MA) was hit by a pitch with one out in the second inning. Senior infielder Noah Plantamuro (Bristol) singled up the middle to put the Warriors ahead 1-0.

Two more Eastern runners cross the plate in the third inning, making it 3-0, after Garcia walked the first two hitters and a single from graduate outfielder John Mesagno (Tappan, NY) along with a double play by Malcom gave the Warriors some breathing room.

A line-drive double narrowly out of junior infielder Zach Donahue's (South Windsor) allowed graduate first baseman Brandon Jenkins to reach base with one out, kick-starting a two-run third inning for the Hawks after two Eastern errors and an RBI single from sophomore catcher London Camelo, cutting the Warrior lead down to one, 3-2.

An insurance run courtesy of a Bagdasarian sacrifice fly in the fifth put Eastern ahead 4-2 and after 103 pitches across five innings Garcia would exit for Roger Williams. The left-hander gave up four runs (all earned) on a season-high four hits while walking a season-high five and striking out a season-low two. The four earned runs matched the total number Garcia gave up all season.

Sophomore outfielder Josh Cofrancesco (Southington) tacked on another run in the sixth inning with an RBI single to center field to solidify the Eastern lead, 5-2, while junior left-hander Billy Oldham (Brookfield) continued to shutdown the Hawks' lineup and junior left-hander Aidan Dunn (Westfield, MA) closed out the final two innings to earn his second save of the season.

With another strong seven-inning performance, Oldham (7-2) earned his seventh win of the season after giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits while striking out eight batters, including four consecutive from the second to third innings and the side, and walking none. The right-hander has thrown at least seven innings in seven of his nine starts this season.

Eastern Conn. 4, Roger Williams U. 2
Offense came at a premium for both teams as senior right-hander Bryan Albee (Killingly) and graduate right-hander Chris Flynn dueled on the mound in the early going. Through the first three innings, just three runners reached base with two Warriors getting on by way of a second-inning error and third-inning single by sophomore outfielder Jason Claiborn (Prospect) while the Hawks had sophomore catcher Jack Morin reach on a walk before being picked off by Albee in the second inning.

Roger Williams threatened first against Albee when a hit batter and hit-and-run single by Jenkins put runners on the corners with one out in the fourth. Using a strikeout and flyout, Albee kept the Hawks off the scoreboard before a towering first-pitch home run by Mesagno to left field put Eastern on the board first, 1-0.

Putting runners on the corners again with one out in the fifth inning, Roger Williams threatened again when Albee picked off senior infielder Tommy Hobin at third base for the second out of the inning. After walking junior outfielder Matt Falvey, leadoff hitting graduate outfielder Tyler Cedeno's two-run double in the right-center gap gave the Hawks their first lead of the three-game, three-day series, 2-1.

Looking to respond against Flynn in the sixth inning, a hit batter in Mesagno and a walk issued to Malcom with no outs gave Eastern a chance to score with the heart of the order coming up. With one out and runners on second and third following a Bagdasarian sacrifice bunt, Flynn battled back to strike out Tower and senior designated hitter Jack Rich (Meriden) to escape the jam.
Entering the day with a .964 fielding percentage, the Roger Williams' fielding woes proved costly in the seventh inning after a Plantamuro groundball slipped between the legs of sophomore infielder Nick Masino and bobbled ball hit by Donahue to Hobin gave Eastern first and third with one out. Flynn would strike out junior second baseman Brent Coscullela (Miami, FL) and issue an intentional walk to Mesagno, loading the bases for Malcom.

On the first pitch from Flynn, Malcom hit a high fly ball off the top of the centerfield wall plating all three runners, making it 4-2, as the East Lyme native raced into third with his first triple of the season and first since his first-year season back in 2019.

Working two scoreless innings, graduate right-hander Jack Wallace (Winthrop, MA) earned his first win of the season and first in a Warrior uniform. After allowing a walk to Morin and a single to Camelo, junior right-hander Nathan Furino forced a double-play ball from Hobin to close out Eastern's 4-2 comeback victory and earn his first save of the season.
Getting the no-decision, Bryan Albee went six innings giving up two runs on three hits while walking four and striking out two. On the other end, Chris Flynn worked all eight innings giving up four runs (one earned) on five hits while striking out eight and walking two in his second loss of the season.
 
The Warriors will play four games next week to close out their 2022 regular season, three of which will be crucial Little East Conference matchups with a single game against Keene State College and a doubleheader against UMass Boston to start and end their week. Eastern travels to face the Owls on Tuesday afternoon at 3:00 PM at Owl Athletic Complex having notched a 10-0, seven-inning victory at home against them earlier this season.