FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Four pitchers combined on a four-hitter in the opener and senior cleanup hitter Chad Adams (Ware, MA) drove in three runs in the nightcap with a single and two-run home run as the Eastern Connecticut State University baseball team swept Farmingdale State College, 5-4, 6-2 in a season-opening doubleheader Saturday.

In the opener, Eastern scored three runs in its final two at-bats to erase a one-run deficit, and junior righty Sam Kosterich (Stamford) stranded the tying run at third in the ninth inning to record his first career save. Eastern tied the game in the eighth when first-year junior transfer Alex Zachary (Enfield) doubled with one out and scored on sophomore D.J. Scavone's (Auburn, MA) two-out single.

The Warriors snapped a 3-3 tie with two runs in the ninth when senior Tim Budd (Cheshire), freshman Alex Parkos (Meriden) and junior Pat Sirois (Cromwell) opened the inning with hits. Parkos drove in Budd with a triple for his first career hit and RBI for the go-ahead run, and Sirois plated Parkas with a single.

Sophomore lefty Jacob Smith (East Longmeadow, MA) and freshman righty Brian Hnatuk (Trumbull) combined on a four-hitter over the first seven innings with seven strikeouts and five walks, but neither figured in the decision. Freshman lefty Nick Rascati (Wallingford) was credited with his first win in his debut. He pitched a scoreless eighth in a tie game, and after the Warriors scored the tie-breaking runs in the top of the ninth, was lifted in favor of Kosterich after giving up a leadoff walk in the ninth.

In the nightcap, senior righty Patrick O'Neill (Thomaston) pitched a three-hitter with three strikeouts and no walks over the first four innings, and redshirt freshman righty Jason Staub (Portland) followed with a five-hitter and  five strikeouts and no walks over the next four to complete the sweep. Staub gained his first career win in his debut.

In the second game, Adams stroked an RBI single in the first and slammed a two-run home run to make it 6-0 in the fourth. The homer was his eighth in his two-year career. In a three-run second inning, Zachary and freshman second baseman Ryan Hood (Arllington, MA) each drove in their first runs in an Eastern uniform.  

In the doubleheader, leadoff hitter Zachary had five hits, scored twice and drove in a run, while Sirois had four hits, scored a run and drove in a run. Zachary doubled and tripled in the first game. Batting second, freshman leftfielder Alexander White (West Hartford) reached safely three times with a single and two walks, scored twice and drove in a run.

Eastern plays SUNY Old Westbury Sunday at noon at Baseball Heaven in Yaphank, NY.