DANBURY, Conn. – Senior third baseman Emmanuel Zaiter (Miami, FL) drove in five runs with a grand slam and bases-loaded walk to highlight an 11-run sixth inning in Eastern Connecticut State University's seven-inning 22-6 Little East Conference baseball win over Western Connecticut State University Tuesday afternoon at Westside Field.
With its 18th consecutive win over WestConn (5-15, 0-7 LEC), Eastern (19-6, 8-2 LEC) moves to within a victory of its 53rd straight 20-win season and improves its conference-leading winning percentage to .800. Keene State (6-2 LEC, .750) and University of Massachusetts Boston (7-3 LEC, .700) follow closely behind Eastern in the standings. The Warriors defeated Keene, 12-7 at home last Wednesday and visit UMass Boston in 11 days for a noon doubleheader.
Leading 11-6, the Warriors batted around twice in the top of the sixth inning, scoring 11 runs on six hits, four walks, four hit batsmen and an error. The Warriors' four HBP in the inning and seven in the game tie program inning and game records.
In that inning, Eastern loaded the bases without an out to set the stage for Zaiter's grand slam that made it 15-6. After sophomore leftfielder Ian Moser (Bellingham, MA) and junior first baseman J.T. Clark (Bristol) were hit with the bases loaded later in the inning to force in two more runs, Zaiter was walked with the bases loaded to force in the eighth run of the inning.
The top two hitters in the Eastern order reached base nine times, scored seven runs and drove in two. Senior leadoff hitter Ray Leonzi (Trumbull) – who cracked his team-leading seventh home run of the season – 13th of his career -- in the third inning, reached five times with three hits and two walks and scored four times, while senior catcher Hank Penders (Wethersfield) was aboard five times with four walks and a HBP and scored three runs.
Senior righty Sean Wininger (Bristol) made his first mound appearance of the season by pitching a hitless seventh inning while junior Dylan Jackson (Manchester) drove in his first career run with a pinch single in the sixth and senior Ryan Salvador (Waterford) had his first hit of the year and scored his first career run when he came home as a pinch runner in the sixth and later singled in the final run of the frame. In his second career appearance, first-year catcher Elijah Sharp (Chester, NH) scored his first career run as a sixth-inning pinch runner, and later in the inning walked in his first career plate appearance, and recorded three putouts behind the plate over the last two innings.
Leonzi collected multiple RBIs (2) for the team-leading 12th time this year and hit safely in his eighth straight game while senior DH Alejandro Soriano (Hartford) and Leonzi reached safely for the 25th and 24th consecutive times, respectively. Soriano, batting cleanup, had two hits, drove in a pair and scored a run in reaching safely in every game this year.
A winner of 12 of its last 14, Eastern plays the second of six straight road games Wednesday against Amherst College (10-12) at 4 p.m. and meets Wheaton College (16-11) Thursday at 3:30 p.m. in non-conference games. Including Sunday's Little East home split with the University of Southern Maine, the Warriors are in the midst of playing five games in five days.
The Warriors close out the road trip with a non-conference pair at Salisbury University this weekend and an LEC contest at Keene State a week from Tuesday. In 2022, the Warriors won the national title game over 2021 champion Salisbury (25-5), currently ranked sixth nationally. The Gulls bring a nine-game winning streak into Wednesday's game at Catholic University.