MANSFIELD, Conn. – With the loss of its top two starters and a reliever named as the New England Pitcher-of-the-Year from a year ago, pitching was expected to be a question mark for the Eastern Connecticut State University baseball team in 2014.

So much for that theory.

At right: Patrick O'Neill (21) pitched the first seven scoreless innings in the second-game shutout of Plymouth State Saturday.

Saturday, five pitchers did not allow an earned run as the Warriors made it 13 wins in their last 14 games with a 5-2, 5-0 Little East Conference sweep of Plymouth State University at the Eastern Baseball Stadium.

In starting roles, senior righty Greg Porter (Mystic) and sophomore righty Patrick O'Neill (Thomaston) each pitched six-hitters and relievers Pat Barnett (Windsor),Matt D'Orsi (West Hartford) and Adam Merritt (Seymour) allowed only four hits and one walk in four innings as Eastern (16-4, 5-1 Little East) stretched its winning streak to nine and improved its home record to 9-1.

Porter (5-1) won his tenth career game in the opener, fanning three and walking three. Plymouth (11-11, 1-5 Little East) touched him for an unearned run in the second and pushed across another unearned run in the ninth against Merritt. Merritt walked in a run in the ninth but got No. 7 hitter Brandon Cox on a game-ending fly ball to left.

In his third start, O'Neill (2-0) didn't walk or strike out a batter, leaving after seven innings on the long end of a 5-0 score. Barnett  struck out three in retiring the final six batters, lowering his earned run average to 1.61.

Eastern reached Plymouth starter Tucker Regan for three runs in the first inning of the first game – two coming on a two-out single by junior Corey Keane (Tolland) – and moved out to a 5-0 lead against the starter in the third when senior Gavin Lavallee (New Milford) opened with a single and senior Nik Ververis (Plainfield) and Keane followed with doubles.

Eastern scored all of its runs in the nightcap in the middle three innings. Senior Adam Roderick (West Hartford) and Ververis both singled and doubled in those innings, Ververis scoring twice and driving in two runs with his double.

Roderick had four hits and two RBI on the day, Lavallee and Ververis three hits, and sophomore Tim Budd (Cheshire), senior Brendan Lynch (Wethersfield) and Keane all collecting two hits. Keane drove in three runs, Ververis two.

Junior Paul Reny  and sophomore Dave Hall each had three hits for Plymouth, with junior Dan Armstrong, junior Brian Thompson and sophomore Jake Broom recording two each. Plymouth had 16 hits in the doubleheader, but 15 were singles. In relief of Regan in the first game, senior Spencer Webb stopped Eastern on two hits, but walked five as Plymouth pitchers issued 12 walks on the afternoon.

In winning 13 of its last 14, Eastern pitching has fashioned a 1.79 earned run average and has struck out 102 against only 43 walks.

Eastern visits Amherst College Monday at 4 p.m.