PURCHASE, N.Y. – Four pitchers limited Manhattanville College to six hits, junior shortstop Zach Donahue (South Windsor) collected his 100th career hit and first-year junior transfer Tiernan Lynch (Easton) hit a ninth-inning grand slam for his first home run in an Eastern Connecticut State University uniform as the defending national champions and No. 8-ranked Warriors posted their seventh straight victory, an 11-4 win Wednesday afternoon.
Eastern (25-5) broke open a tight game by scoring seven runs in its final three at-bats, capped by Lynch's grand slam from the No. 8 spot in the order after three inning-opening walks. The win is Eastern's seventh straight over Manhattanville (10-17) and 13th in the 15-game series.
Donahue reached 100 hits in only two seasons at Eastern with an RBI single that gave Eastern a 3-2 lead in the top of the fourth. First-year righty Dylan Scudder (Simsbury) and senior righty Nathan Furino (East Haven) combined to pitch the first seven innings, allowing five hits and three earned runs with seven strikeouts.
Junior rightfielder Jason Claiborn (Prospect), senior second baseman Noah Plantamuro (Bristol) and Matt Malcom (East Lyme) each had three hits in a 14-hit attack, Malcom extending his on-base streak to 12 in a row.
Eastern visits Rhode Island College in a Little East Conference doubleheader Saturday at noon. Eastern (9-1 LEC) holds a one-game lead over Rhode Island (7-1 LEC) and Massachusetts Boston (7-1 LEC).