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MEDFORD, Mass.—In his first career start at Eastern Connecticut State University, first-year senior righty transfer Alex Mach (Rockfall) scattered six hits – five of them singles – in seven innings, and senior outfielder Alejandro Soriano (Hartford) had three hits – including the 100^th of his career – as the Warriors downed Tufts University, 8-1, in the second game of a non-conference baseball doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Sol Gittleman Park.

Mach and senior righty Mike Furgalack (Southington) and junior lefty AJ Rooks (Coventry) held Tufts (2-1) scoreless and to six hits over the final eight innings and Eastern (3-2) scored runs in five of the final six innings to gain a split of the doubleheader.

In the first game, Tufts tied the game by scoring twice with two out in the ninth inning, and after Eastern left the go-ahead run on second on Soriano's one-out double in the top of the 11th, the Jumbos won it in the bottom of the 11^th by collecting three hits – the game-winner riding home on late-inning replacement Caden Abraham's one-out RBI single in a 14-13 victory.

In that first game, Tufts raked five Eastern pitchers for 22 hits, and Eastern's 13-11 lead after seven innings did not hold up. For the Warriors, junior righty Connor Willett (Rockfall) was the lone bright spot on the mound. He entered the game with bases loaded and none out in the sixth and allowed one run to score on a sacrifice fly. In three innings, he fanned two and gave up only one hit.
In the second game, Mach fanned four and walked only one in seven innings in his second appearance at Eastern. Furgalack and Rooks followed with one scoreless inning apiece.

After hitting safely twice in the first game, Soriano netted his 100^th career hit with a run-scoring triple to center to give Eastern a quick 1-0 lead in the nightcap.

On the day, 12 of Eastern's 25 hits went for extra bases, with senior Preston [Irby] Cosme-Cruz (Bridgeport), junior J.T. Clark ( Bristol) and sophomore Ian Moser (Belliingham, MA) all homering, senior Emmanuel Zaiter (Miami, FL) doubling twice and senior Ray Leonzi (Trumbull) and Soriano tripling. As the leadoff batter in the opener, Leonzi became the third player in program history to walk five times in game. He led off the game with a triple before walking in his next five at-bats.

First-year senior Michael Hernandez (Bridgeport) drove in four runs on the day (giving him a share of the team lead, with eight), three coming in the first game on an RBI double and two sacrifice flies. Moser drove in three runs and Cosme-Cruz, Zaiter, senior Hank Penders (Wethersfield) and senior Nick Montagna (Carmel, NY) all scored four runs on the afternoon. Soriano had five hits, Cosme-Cruz and Zaiter four each and Penders and Leonzi three apiece. Zaiter (9-of-17) improved his team-leading batted average to .529, with Soriano (10-of-21) at .476 and Cosme-Cruz (6-of16) at .375.

Eastern visits Trinity College (1-4) in a non-conference game Tuesday at DiBenedetto Stadium at 3:30 p.m. and the University of Hartford (4-4 prior to Sunday's game at Penn State Harrisburg) Wednesday at Fiondella Field at 3 p.m. before playing five games in Florida during spring break.