Box Score MANSFIELD, Conn. – Senior catcher Merlyn Herrera (La Yaquiza, DR) broke open a tie game with a two-out single on an 0-2 pitch in the bottom of the fifth inning and junior lefty Nick Rascati (Wallingford) pitched four scoreless innings in middle relief as the Eastern Connecticut State University baseball team defeated Western Connecticut State University, 6-4, in Little East Conference play Wednesday afternoon at the Eastern Baseball Stadium.
Both teams entered on two-game losing streaks but Eastern (13-10, 3-2 LEC) recovered after blowing a 4-0 lead after two innings, downing Western (9-13, 0-7 LEC) for the fifth straight time and handing the Colonials their eighth loss in their last nine games. The Warriors improved to 8-3 at home.
Trailing 4-0, Western got one back in the third on back-to-back hits by senior No. 9 hitter Stanly Rijo and senior leadoff hitter Bill Buscetto and an infield ground ball, then chased Eastern starting junior righty Jordan Muchin (West Hartford) in a three-run fourth when the first five batters reached safely on three hits (two of which did not leave the infield), a walk and an infield error.
Making his first start of the season, Western junior righty Taylor Donofrio – the team's traditional closer – got the first two outs of the fifth inning (All-Region junior infielder Alex Parkos (Meriden) driving the first pitch of the inning to the base of the outfield fence), but hit freshman rightfielder Anthony Stigler (Mansfield) to prolong the inning. Stigler then stole second and came home on Herrera's single to center off an 0-2 pitch.
The Warriors tacked on an insurance run in the sixth when junior shortstop Dale Keller (Oxford) doubled to open the inning, moved to third on junior No. 9 hitter Ryan Hood's (Arlington, MA) flare to right and scored as Western was turning a double play.
Senior DH D.J. Scavone (Auburn, MA) gave the Warriors an early first-inning lead with a single to right that scored junior centerfielder Alexander White (West Hartford), who had singled to open the inning and moved up when senior second baseball Mike Funaro (Northford) was hit by a pitch. In the second, Keller (single), Hood (hbp) and White (infield single) loaded the bases with one out. Funaro's check-swing infield ground ball plate Keller with the first run of the inning and with two out, Parkos stroked a two-run opposite-field double to right that made it 4-0.
Down 4-1, Western pushed across the tying runs in the fourth, scoring the first run of the inning on an infield error, the second on an infield single to short and the tying run on Buscetto's bases loaded sacrifice fly to left. Rascati (2-0) entered the inning with two runs in and the bases loaded with none out. He got Rijo on a pop to short and after surrendering Buscetto's sacrifice fly, kept the game tied when he got senior third baseman Joe Daigle (Southington) to ground the first pitch to short, where Keller made a smooth back-handed pickup, with Parkos stretching to grab the throw at first and nip the runner.
Rascati and sophomore righty Drew Alexopoulos (Hanson, MA) – the team's workhorse pitchers out of the bullpen – shut out Western on three hits over the final six innings, fanning four without a walk. Alexopoulos earned his first career save in his team-leading 13 appearance of the year.
The third of White's three hits – a hard one-out single over second base in the eighth – was the 100th of his three-year career. He scored two runs, as did Keller, who had two hits. Hood reached safely four times with two singles and two hit-by-pitch, and scored a run. Herrera was 3-for-4 with his fifth-inning RBI.
In addition to throwing out two runners attempting to steal, senior catcher Zach Sagar led Western with three hits, with sophomore rightfielder Greg Campbell singling twice and scoring a run.
By committing only one error, Eastern maintained its field percentage at .967 -- second-best in the conference.
Eastern hosts Westfield State University Thursday at 4 p.m. in a non-conference game.
