Box Score MANSFIELD, Conn. – Junior righty Tyler Cyr (Bristol) pitched a four-hitter for his first career complete game and junior second baseman Corey Keane (Tolland) hit his first home run in an Eastern Connecticut State University baseball uniform as the Warriors downed MIT, 4-1, Thursday afternoon at the Eastern Baseball Stadium.
At right: Tyler Cyr
Ranked second in the NCAA New England Region and 23rd nationally, Eastern (25-7) won for the 18th time in the last 20 games and improved to 14-4 at home. An at-large selection to last year's NCAA tournament, MIT (20-13) had won 11 of 15 games on its opponent's field this year. The loss ended the Engineers' three-game winning streak and was only their fifth setback in the last 14 games.
Making his fifth career start – all this season – Cyr (2-1) gave up only two hits after the second inning en route to posting the team's second complete game of the year. Cyr needed only 108 pitchers and an hour and 43 minutes to log the team's seventh victory in its last eight games.
A double by junior shortstop Parker Tew, wild pitch and infield ground ball staked MIT to a 1-0 lead in the second, but senior third baseman Mike Vaccarelli (Wolcott) singled for Eastern's first hit off junior righty KJ Parent leading off the fourth, and Keane followed by homering over the left field fence on the second pitch he saw from Parent (2-3). It was Keane's first home run in his two-year Eastern career and second in three collegiate seasons.
Eastern tacked on two insurance runs in the eighth against freshman left-handed reliever Jason Morrison on singles by Vaccarelli and senior leftfielder Nik Ververis (Plainfield), an error, and a sacrifice fly. Vaccarelli singled up the middle to open the inning, moved to third on a throwing error on Keane's sacrifice bunt, and scored on senior shortstop Brendan Lynch's (Wethersfield) sacrifice fly to right. Ververis then greeted senior righty relief pitcher Tim Wilson with an RBI single which sent home Keane.
Cyr struck out one, walked two and hit a batter. After getting an inning-ending double play to end MIT's second inning, he allowed only one hit and three baserunners before sophomore DH Nate Rodman's singled with two out in the ninth. In the game, Cyr retired 14 batters on ground balls.
Ververis had three of Eastern's seven hits. Keane drove in two runs and scored two and Vaccarelli had two hits and scored two runs.
Eastern visits the University of Southern Maine Friday at noon in a Little East Conference doubleheader. A sweep gives the Warriors a share of the regular-season title and makes them the top seed and host in next weekend's LEC tournament. The Warriors close the regular season Sunday when they host Wesleyan University in a non-conference 1 p.m. start.
