WestConn Athletics

Danbury, CT (Apr. 27) — Eastern Connecticut scored five runs in the first inning, sending nine batters to the plate, and WestConn starting pitcher, sophomore Miles Scribner (Washington, CT), didn’t make it out of the first inning as Eastern beat WestConn 10-2 in Little East Conference baseball action at Westside field Sunday afternoon.

Eastern Connecticut took advantage of a single and two hit batsmen to load the bases in the first inning with no outs, but when the Warriors’ designated hitter, Andrew Dewing (Swampscott, MA), grounded into a double play (pitcher to catcher to first) it looked like the Colonials might escape the first inning without allowing any runs. After Scribner allowed three hits and a walk to the next four Eastern batters his day was over and Eastern Connecticut took a 5-0 lead.

Those five first-inning runs would prove more than enough for Eastern’s starting pitcher Joe Esposito (East Haven, CT) who kept the Coloinals’ bats quite all afternoon, including a stretch where he retired 15 WestConn batters in a row. Single runs in the third and eighth innings by the Colonials did little to change the momentum and Eastern cruised to a 10-2 victory.

For the Colonials, sophomore pitcher Steve Bainer (Prospect, CT), was sharp for three innings recording the final out of the first and nine of the next ten batters he faced. In the top of the fifth however, Eastern’s Jon Dalton (Standish, ME) crushed the first pitch deep over the fence in left field and Mevlin Castillo (Danbury, Ct) just missed clearing the fence in left with the inning’s second pitch, settling for a double. When Dewing drove Castillo in from second with another hard shot to left Bainer gave way to freshman Josh Murray (Colchester, CT) who retired the next three Warrior batters.

In the top of the seventh, Tristan Hobbes (Utica, NY) and Jim Schult (Wappingers Falls, NY) led off with back to back doubles, prompting another WestConn pitching change. Freshman David Alarcon (Plymouth, CT) escaped a bases-loaded jam when Colonial third baseman Jeff Gordon (Milford, CT) made an acrobatic catch on a foul pop-up to end the inning with only two runs scored.

Sophomore Joe Postemsky (Windham, CT) entered the game for the Colonials in the top of the eighth and retired all six batters he faced, but the damage had already been done.

Esposito pitch eight strong innings to earn his fourth win of the season for Eastern Connecticut, while Scribner takes the loss for the Colonials and is now 2-4 on the season.

With Sunday afternoon’s victory, Eastern Connecticut’s season record now stands at 24-11-1 (9-3 in the Little East conference), while WestConn falls to 15-20 (4-8 in the LEC).

WestConn hosts Manhattanville College in a non-conference game on Tuesday evening at Westside Field (weather permitting). First pitch is slated for 5:00pm

Eastern Connecticut 10, Western Connecticut 2
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Eastern Connecticut. 500 021 200 0 - 10 13  1      (24-11-1, 9-3 LEC)
Western Connecticut. 001 000 010 X -  2  6  1      (15-20, 4-8 LEC)
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Pitchers: Eastern Connecticut - Esposito; Montanari(9).
Western Connecticut - Miles Scribner; 
Steve Bainer(1); Josh Murray(5); David Alarcon(7); Joe Postemsky(8). 
Win-Esposito(1-0)  Loss-Miles Scribner(2-4)

HR ECSUBB - Dalton.
S. Bainer faced 3 batters in the 5th.
J. Murray faced 2 batters in the 7th.