FORT MYERS, Fla – For the first time since 2019, Eastern Connecticut State University Baseball travels down to Fort Myers, Florida for spring break week, playing six games in six days at three different locations across the area.

Ranked number nine nationally, the Warriors (4-0) have started out the season hot with four consecutive wins all coming on the road, matching their best road start since 2012. Eastern defeated Hood College twice in a doubleheader and St. Mary's College (Maryland) last weekend before a late week matchup this past week against Purchase College.

In the latest national poll put out by D3Baseball.com, the Warriors climbed to 6^th nationally, up three spots from the first week of the season.

For the first time in program history, Eastern  will square off against University of Wisconsin-Stout on Monday morning at 9:00 AM at the Lee County Player Development Complex in Fort Myers, Florida.

The Blue Devils (1-2) come into the game having lost their first two games against Bethel University, a team Eastern will face on Saturday this week, at U.S. Bank Stadium on March 8^th before earning their first victory of the 2022 season with a 7-5 win on Sunday afternoon over the Royals in Fort Myers.

Wisconsin-Stout's offense has been spearheaded by the hot bat of senior third baseman Joel Thimsen. The righty hitter has started the year with a .500 batting average in three games with five hits in 10 at-bats. Thimsen has recorded five RBIs on the season, including three against Bethel on Sunday afternoon on a sacrifice fly and single.

As a team, the Blue Devils come into the game hitting .269 as a team and have manufactured 11 runs on offense.

Equally as impressive to start the year has been Eastern's senior outfielder Ryan Bagdasarian (Glastonbury). The right-handed hitter has asserted himself in the middle of head coach Brian Hamm's lineup, earning himself a .500 batting average (8-for-16) in four games to start the year. Bagdasarian has driven in five RBIs thus far, including a 3-for-3 performance against Purchase College in which the senior plated one run, reached safely six times, and stole three bases in the victory.

Pitching has been a point of strength for the Eastern, led by junior right-hander Billy Oldham (Brookfield). In his lone start this year, the Warrior ace went seven strong innings against Hood College, allowing no runs, one hit, one walk, and striking out 14 batters in the opening game victory. Oldham is likely to get a start or two during the six day stretch in Florida.

As a team, Eastern has given up just 10 runs in four games, only eight of which have been earned.
 
In their three games against Bethel, UW-Stout's pitching has given up 20 runs, all of which have been earned, leading to a 7.83 team ERA entering the game against the Warriors on Monday.
The ace for the Blue Devils has been senior right-hander Jace Baumann who started on opening day against the Royals, pitching five shutout innings and giving up no runs on three hits while walking and striking out one. UW-Stout would go on to lose the game after their bullpen gave up five runs by a final score of 5-1. Like Oldham, Baumann has not started since the team's first game, making him a potential candidate to square off against Eastern on Monday morning.

First pitch is scheduled for 9:00 AM at the Lee County Player Development Complex in Fort Myers, Florida. To follow all the action live, click on the link below to view the real-time statistics for the game or follow @ecsuathletics on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for game updates.

Live Stats: https://gowarriorathletics.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary