NEWPORT, R.I. –  The Eastern Connecticut State University baseball team scored all of its runs over the final four innings, using a five-run rally in the top of the ninth inning after there were two out and one on to topple Salve Regina University, 9-5, Thursday afternoon at Reynolds Field.

In a non-conference game featuring two of the top three teams in New England in Eastern (8-3) and Salve (11-3), the third-ranked Warriors erased deficits of 4-0 and 5-4 to trim Salve, ranked No. 2 in New England and No. 26 in Division III. The Seahawks had won six straight, the last four coming at home.

 With two out and a runner on second base in the ninth, the Warriors struck for five runs – the last four unearned – on two hits, three walks, a hit batter, and a crucial infield error.  New pitcher Zach Dionne struck out two after an opening walk to No. 9 hitter Christian Budzik (Cromwell) and was within an out of nailing down the save. A wild pitch moved Budzik to second, however, and after intentionally walking senior All-America centerfielder Alex Zachary (Enfield), Dionne surrendered a game-tying single to first-team All-New England Region sophomore Alex Parkos (Meriden). An infield error then sent Zachary and Parkos home with the go-ahead runs.

With season-opening conference doubleheaders scheduled for this weekend, both teams used seven pitchers. Sophomore lefty Will Ginsberg of Salve shut out the Warriors on two hits over the first five innings, but his 4-0 lead evaporated in the late innings. With two out and none on in the sixth, the Warriors got three back on sophomore DH Alexander White's (West Hartford) first home run of the year which drove in Parkos (single) and senior rightfielder Pat Sirois (Cromwell), who had walked. Parkos' two-out RBI single tied the game in the seventh before the Seahawks took a short-lived lead in the bottom of the inning on three consecutive singles.

Junior righty Sam Kosterich (Stamford) retired six straight to gain his second win in two relief decisions. Kosterich struck out the side in the ninth, finishing with four in his brief stint. Middle relievers Ben Ruddock (Deerfield, MA) and Brian Hnatuk (Trumbull) handcuffed Salve on one hit over four innings.

Eastern's pitchers gave up only six hits and two walks but hit four batters.

Parkos was 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBI and Budzik reached four times with two hits and two walks.

Eastern hosts Plymouth State University Sunday in a Little East Conference noon doubleheader in its home-openers.