NEWPORT, R.I. – Salve Reginal University cleanup hitter Tyler Cannoe drove in six runs with a first-inning two-run home run and sixth-inning grand slam that helped send the No. 2-ranked Eastern Connecticut State University baseball team to its first two-game losing streak in regular-season play in more than four years, 13-6, Thursday afternoon at Reynolds Field.
For the second straight loss, Eastern (11-3) allowed a two-run home run in the first inning. Unlike Wednesday's 10-1 home loss to Westfield State University, Eastern recovered against Salve (8-3) to tie the game, 4-4 on the strength of senior catcher Matt Malcom's (East Lyme) team-leading sixth home run (30th of his career) in the fifth and a leadoff double by senior third baseman Brent Cosculluela (Miami) and RBI single by sophomore centerfielder Ray Leonzi (Trumbull) in the sixth.
The tie didn't last long, however, as the Seahawks put the game away with six runs in the bottom of the sixth and three more in the seventh to take a 13-4 lead into the ninth. Cannoe slugged his grand slam in the sixth after five consecutive batters reached with one out – two reaching on walks and another on one of the Warriors' four errors No. 3 hitter Tyler Petros's two-run single highlighted his team's two-run seventh.
Eastern last lost two straight in the regular season in 2019 with late April setbacks to visiting Tufts University, 8-4, and homestanding Rhode Island College, 4-3.
Junior first baseman Ryan Parent (Southington) had three of Eastern's 12 hits and matched Malcom with two RBI. Malcom also doubled to go along with his home run and scored twice. Cosculluela and Leonzi each also had two hits. Cosculluela reached three times with a leadoff double in the sixth and a pair of walks and junior Mason Balmer (North Haven) slammed his first career home run as a pinch hitter leading off the ninth. In his last six games, Parent is 9-for-20 with nine runs scored and eight RBI. He has hit safely in ten straight games.
Seven pitchers split mound duty against Salve for Eastern, with only junior righty Finn Doherty (Milton, MA) pitching as many as two innings. In his first start at Eastern (fourth appearance), Doherty pitched into the third inning, fanning three and allowed two earned runs on three hits and two walks. Of the 11 pitchers who appeared in the team's last two losses, none threw a pitch in last year's NCAA tournament run to the national championship.
While Eastern won its fifth national championship in 2022, Salve was named to the NCAA regionals as an at-large selection, winning two games and finishing with 30 wins.
Eastern opens as two-time defending Little East Conference regular-season champions when it host Plymouth State University Sunday at noon in a doubleheader. The Warriors are 30-2 in LEC regular-season play the last two years. The Warriors are 51-6 all-time at home against the Panthers.