AUBURNDALE, Fla. – Juniors Alex Zachary (Enfield) and Pat Sirois (Cromwell) and freshman Alex Parkas (Meriden) each had four of the team's 15 hits and combined for eight runs scored and seven RBI and senior righty Patrick O'Neill (Thomaston) pitched six scoreless innings to lift the Eastern Connecticut State University baseball team to a 12-5 victory over RIT Friday afternoon at Lake Myrtle Park.

Behind O'Neill (1-0), who pitched an eight-hitter with six strikeouts and no walks over the first six innings, Eastern (4-1) led 6-0 after six innings, and freshmen righties Brian Hnatuk (Trumbull) and John Parker (Brunswick, ME) and righty junior Sam Kosterich (Stamford) closed out the win on the mound for the Warriors in the first meeting ever with RIT (1-4).

Batting ninth, Sirois was 4-for-4 with his first home run of the year and a double, two RBI and two runs scored to raise his batting average to .529; cleanup hitter Zachary was 4-for-5 with four runs scored to improve his season mark to .476; and No. 5 hitter Parkos was 4-for-5 with a double, five RBI and two runs scored. Parkos is batting .500 with a team-high ten RBI.

With Eastern leading 9-5, the Warriors added three insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth. Sirois led off with a double and with two out, senior third baseman Chad Adams (Ware, MA) walked and Zachary singled to load the bases for Parkos, who unleashed a bases-clearing double – his fifth extra-base hit in five games.

Eastern pitchers fanned eight and walked only two, giving the staff 30 strikeouts against only 13 walks.

Eastern faces Framingham State University Saturday at 9:30 a.m. at Winter Haven.