PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The No. 8 nationally-ranked defending national champion Eastern Connecticut State University baseball team rallied for three runs over its final three at-bats in the second game but left the tying run at second base in the ninth inning and was swept by Rhode Island College, 7-6, 6-5, Saturday afternoon at Pontarelli Field.
In the first game, Rhode Island (22-11, 9-1 LEC) scored three runs in its final two at-bats, winning with two out in the bottom of the ninth on No. 2 hitter Daniel Trzep's single that drove in leadoff hitter Cameron Santerre, who had doubled with two out. Pinch hitter Daniel Casci's solo home run leading off the ninth had tied the game.
Rhode Island has won ten of its last 11 after breaking Eastern's six-game winning streak.The sweep was Rhode Island's first over Eastern (25-7, 9-3 LEC) since 2015, when the Anchormen posted 10-2, 16-7 wins at Pontarelli Field.
Rhode Island, ranked second in the LEC pre-season poll, moves a game ahead of Eastern in the LEC standings, having played two less games. Defending LEC regular-season and tournament champion Eastern, tied for third in the LEC pre-season poll, has single games remaining against Western Connecticut Tuesday at home and Keene State College May 2 at home before a doubleheader at UMass Boston which ends the regular season. The Warriors mercied both Western and Keene earlier this month.
In the second game Saturday, sophomore lefty Dan Driscoll (Waterford) struck out nine and walked only one but was lifted while the Anchormen were scoring three runs in the sixth that pushed them into a 6-2 lead. The Warriors got one (unearned) run back in the top of the seventh (and had a second run cut down at the plate on a single) and pushed across two more in the ninth on four singles after there were two out, chasing starter Terry Murray (6-1) in the process. No. 9 hitter Noah Plantamuro (Bristol) and leadoff hitter Zach Donahue (South Windsor) reached with two out, and junior Jason Claiborn (Prospect) and senior catcher Matt Malcom (East Lyme) greeted LEC senior left and LEC save leader Colin Gauthier with RBI singles to make it 6-5 before Gauthier got a game-ending ground ball to Izaiah River at short.
Eastern had last been swept in a doubleheader on April 13, 2019 by the University of Massachusetts Boston, 6-0, 10-7, when the homestanding Beacons were en route to an unprecedented third straight conference tournament title. Eastern had last lost both ends of a doubleheader by one run on April 30, 2016 at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, 3-2 in 11 innings and 10-9 in 14 innings.
In the opener Saturday, sophomore right Matthew Wootton (Milford) pitched the first eight innings (three earned runs on nine hits with five strikeouts and two walks), leaving on the long end of a 6-5 lead after the Warriors had scored twice in the seventh to take a 6-4 lead on run-scoring singles from Donahue and Claiborn.
On the day, sophomore transfer centerfield Ray Leonzi (Fairfield), Claiborn and Donahue all had four hits in Eastern's 24-hit attack, with Plantamuro and junior leftfielder Josh Cofrancesco (Southington) adding three each. Leonzi hit his first home run to give Eastern a 2-0 lead in the third inning of the first game and scored three of the team's six runs in that game. Plantamuro also walked twice in addition to his three hits and scored four runs, three of them coming in Game 2.
Santerre doubled twice and homered among his four hits, scored three runs and drove in two for Rhode Island. His third home run of the year leading off the bottom of the first inning of the second game quickly tied the second after Claiborn and junior cleanup hitter Ryan Parent (Southington) had doubled off Murray to give the Warriors an early 1-0 lead.
Five Eastern pitchers combined to strike out 18 batters and walk only three, but were roughed up for eight extra-bases hits, including three home runs by the Anchormen, who top the conference in that category, with 28 – two more than Eastern.