MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The top three hitters in the Eastern Connecticut State University baseball lineup combined for nine hits and 16 total bases as the No. 5 nationally-ranked Warriors broke open a scoreless game by scoring nine runs in the fifth and six innings in a 10-1 victory over Worcester State University Friday evening at the Ripken Experience.

Worcester (4-6) senior righty Kevin Zarnoch (0-2) spaced three hits through the first four innings before Eastern (8-1) sent nine batters to the plate and scored five runs in the fifth, then sent eight batters to the plate and tacked on four more in the sixth.

Eastern reached Zarnoch for ten hits and nine runs,  chasing him in the sixth when junior shortstop Zach Donahue (South Windsor) hit a three-run home run and junior rightfielder Jason Claiborn (Prospect) followed with a triple.

In its first game this year against a New England opponent, Eastern collected a season-high 16 hits, four of them for extra bases. While nine players contributed at least one hit, run or RBI, four Eastern pitchers combined on a five-hitter with nine strikeouts.  First-year righty Dylan Scudder (Simsbury) shut out Worcester on one hit but left after four innings of a scoreless game. Junior righty Nolan Lincoln (Londonderry, NH) was credited with the win by striking out four and allowing three hits and a walk in three innings.

Batting ninth in the order, senior second baseman Noah Plantamuro (Bristol)  singled and stole second in the third and recorded his 100^th career hit with a hard single on the first pitch that he saw in the fifth, also scoring in the inning. He scored a a second run after being plunked in the sixth.

Batting leadoff, Donahue broke out of a recent 2-for-19 slump with a double and first home run of the year among his three hits. He drove in four runs and scored three. In addition to his triple in the four-run sixth, Claiborn drove in a run with a single in the fifth, scoring both times. No. 3 hitter Matt Malcom (East Lyme) – a pre-season All-America catcher – had  four hits and drove in a run. He reached on an infield single in the first, doubled leading off the fourth, stroked an RBI single in the sixth, and singled through the left side in the eighth.

Saturday, Eastern wraps up its spring trip against Salem State University at 9 a.m. and Worcester State at 12:30 p.m.