Tournament Central

MANSFIELD, Conn. --  Eastern Connecticut State University jumped to a six-run lead after three innings and went on to a 9-5 victory over Rhode Island College in the first of three games on the first day of the four-day, Little East Conference Baseball Tournament at the Eastern Baseball Stadium.

                                                                     At right: Mike Vaccarelli (Photo by Haley Heslin)

Top-seeded Eastern (29-7) advances in the winners' bracket Thursday at 2:30 p.m. against No. 4 Massachusetts Boston (17-23), while sixth-seeded Rhode Island (12-22) will play an elimination game Thursday at 11 a.m. against No. 5 Plymouth State University (22-15) Eastern and UMass Boston split during the regular season, Eastern winning 3-0 behind senior righty Greg Porter (Mystic) and the Beacons taking the second game behiind senior righty Lucas Ilges. Porter pitched a two-hitter through 7 2/3 and Ilges a three-hitter through eight.

In the third game Thursday, No. 2 seed and two-time defending champion University of Southern Maine (29-10) meets No. 3 Massachusetts Dartmouth (20-20) in a re-match of last year's final. Southern Maine pounded Plymouth State, 9-1, Wednesday in the first round and UMass Dartmouth edged UMass Boston 7-5 in Wednesday's late game.

Rhode Island lefty C.J. Tsoumakas (5-5)  pitched a complete-game seven-hitter in the first game when the teams split the regular-season doubleheader,  but was lifted after only two innings Wednesday after the Warriors scored six times on eight hits to move out to an early 6-1 lead. The first four batters had singled for Eastern in the bottom of the first when the Warriors scored twice, and Eastern added four more in the second on four hits, a walk, sacrifice fly, stolen base and outfield ereror.

Brendan Lynch (Wethersfield) and Nik Ververis (Plainfield) drove in first-inning runs with singles up the middle, and Corey Keane contributed a two-run single and Gavin Lavallee (New Milford) a sacrifice fly in the second.

The top  five hitters in the Eastern lineup combined for 15 hits, seven RBI and seven runs scored. Leadoff hitter Mike Vaccarelli (Wolcott) paced a 17-hit Eastern attack by going 5-for-5 (four singles and a double) with two runs scored. Keane and Lynch each added three hits and combined for five RBI, and Ververis and Adam Roderick (West Hartford) contributed two hits apiece.

Patrick O'Neill (Thomaston) , who pitched a complete-game, five-hit shutout in the second game of the regular-season doubleheader against Rhode Island, gained his fifth win without a loss by pitching the first six innings and leaving with a 9-3 lead. O'Neill allowed eight hits while fanning two and walking one  (which was the second batter of the game).

 Each team had four errors (leading to only three unearned runs), but Eastern tied the program record by turning five infield doubleplays – all of which ended innings. The first came in the top of the first after struck for the first run of the game on Matt Foley's RBI single and the third one helped O'Neill escape trouble in the fourth after the Anchormen loaded the bases on two ground ball singles and a hit batsman. Vaccarelli at third and Keane at second both started two of the twin killings.

Foley, Rhode Island's leading hitter this season, had three of his team's ten hits, drove in two runs and scored one and leadoff hitter Justin Costa had two hits and scored two runs.