MANSFIELD, Conn. – Three relief pitchers combined on four shutout innings to help lift the Eastern Connecticut State University baseball team to a 7-3 non-conference victory over Roger Williams University Thursday afternoon at the Mansfield Outdoor Complex.
Ranked 13th nationally and No. 3 in New England, Eastern (11-3) never trailed after scoring three runs in the first inning off starter Bryan Motta (Dighton, Mass.) (0-2) on three hits, an error and a walk, then scored twice more in the fifth off reliever Brendan Telfer (Avon, Conn.) on two hits, two walks (one intentional) and a hit batter after Roger Williams (5-14) had pulled to within a run. The Warriors have won six of their last seven while Roger Williams had captured its last two entering the game.
Sophomore righty Greg Porter (Mystic) gained his second win in as many decisions after replacing junior starter Andrew Merritt (Norwalk) to start the fifth. Staked to the 3-0 lead, Merritt allowed single runs in the third and fourth before leaving in favor of Porter with the Warriors leading 3-2 after four innings. Merritt was making his first appearance since being hit in the knee with a line drive in the first inning of the team's 16-8 win at Claremont-Mudd Colleges 11 days ago.
In his first relief appearance this year after two starts, Porter struck out three and gave up three hits in two innings and left with the Warriors in control of a 5-2 lead. Junior righty Drew Accomando (Mystic) and junior righty Matt Purnell (Stafford Springs) each followed with a scoreless inning (one combined hit) before sophomore righty Jon Blair (Waterford) survived the ninth by leaving the bases loaded. He walked three and gave up a hit.
Sophomore shortstop Danny O'Connell (Braintree, MA) and junior centerfielder Mike Riemer (Ellington) each drove in two runs for the Warriors, while sophomore leftfielder and leadoff hitter Adam Roderick (West Hartford) scored twice and junior No. 3 hitter Joe Balowski (Berlin) and O'Connell each had two hits.
Balowski doubled and Riemer and O'Connell contributed run-scoring singles in the three-run first and Riemer (walk) and O'Connell (single) plated key fifth-inning runs after the visitors had cut the three-run deficit to one with single runs in the third and fourth. For insurance purposes, sophomore DH T.J. Larivee (Salem, MA) singled in a run in the seventh and freshman second baseman Armando Soler (Hartford) singled in Eastern's final run in the eighth as a late-inning replacement.
The Hawks stranded 12 runners on base, leaving at least one runner aboard seven times and at least one runner in scoring position four times. They failed to score in three innings when they left two runners aboard.
Trevor Manzi (Beverly, Mass.) and Chris Travers (East Freetown, Mass.) each had two hits for Roger Williams, which lost for the eighth time in nine tries against Eastern in this series. Travers doubled leading off the fourth and scored his team's second run on a single by Trevor Larson (Northbridge, Mass.), and also doubled leading off the sixth but was stranded there when Porter sandwiched two strikeouts around an fly ball to Riemer.
Eastern hosts the University of Massachusetts Boston in its Little East Conference openers Saturday in a noon doubleheader. Roger Williams hosts Gordon College on Saturday as well.
- Release courtesy of the Eastern Connecticut State University Sports Information Department
