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For the sixth time in 15 years, the Eastern Baseball Stadium will host an NCAA Division III regional baseball tournament when the Mansfield, Conn. Regional Tournament kicks off with four games Wednesday. Top-seeded Wheaton College, MA headlines the field and will face No. 8 seed Bridgewater State University at 1:15 p.m. in the second of four games on the first day of the eight-team, double-elimination tournament which runs through either Saturday or Sunday.  Six New England conferences are represented in the regional: the Commonwealth Coast Conference (Western New England University), New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (Wheaton), Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (Bridgewater State), Great Northeast Athletic Conference (Saint Joseph's College of Maine), Little East Conference (University of Southern Maine and Keene State College) and New England Small College Athletic Conference (Bowdoin College and Trinity College).Six of the eight qualified automatically as their respective conference tournament champions, with Keene State and Bowdoin gaining at-large  selections to the 56-team field. The six teams have combined for 65 years of tournament experience and a 150-133 tournament record heading into 2012, led by Southern Maine (19th appearance), Bridgewater State (14th) and Wheaton (11th). All eight have made at least one NCAA tournament appearance and two (Southern Maine in 1991 and 1997) and Trinity (2008) have claimed national titles. In previous national tournaments, Wheaton has reached the national championship round and Bridgewater has taken home one third-place finish.The last team in this field to win at Mansfield was Trinity in 2009, while Bridgewater was second here in 2003 and 2004. Defending national champion Marietta College is the No. 1 seed in a regional which it will host in Marietta, OH. This week's eight regional winners  throoughout the country advance to the national tournament May 25-29 at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute, WI.

They sustain two one-run losses and exit tournament in three games

MANSFIELD, Conn. -  Ranked ninth in the NCAA Division III New England  ratings this week, the Eastern Connecticut State University baseball team  needed to win the Little East Conference tournament to be guaranteed a spot in its 33rd NCAA tournament since 1976.

Following an opening win over third-seeded and defending champion Rhode Island College Wednesday, however, Eastern (29-13) was bounced from the tournament after sustaining consecutive one-run losses Friday to second-seeded Keene State College, 4-3 in 12 innings, and sixth-seeded Plymouth State University, 1-0.

Eastern awaits a possible NCAA tournament bid as an at-large selection when the tournament field is announced Monday.

The winningest program in LEC history with seven tournament championships, Eastern was idle Thursday due to rain, but had to come back immediately after its  three hour and 17 minute extra-inning loss to Keene Friday morning. Plymouth, which had won only six games in 15 years of LEC tournament play, had opened the tournament Wednesday by upsetting top-seeded host University of Southern Maine before losing to Rhode Island, 10-5, Thursday.

Keene State 4 , Eastern 3  (12)

Sophomore Nick Vita stroked a two-out single up the middle to deliver senior Kyle Morrill with the winning run as the Owls defeated the Warriors in LEC tournament play for the fifth time in 14 meetings.

Morrill led off the 12th with a single, and moved to second on a ground out.  After senior Peter Burgio  received an intentional walk, Eastern  senior Jim Dimon (Seymour) got the second out on a fly ball, but Vita went back up the middle to bring Morrill around to score.

Winning pitcher Tim Quagliaroli got the first two batters in the bottom of the 12th inning before surrendering a single to junior Drew Accomando (Monroe) . Sophomore Danny O'Connell (Braintree, MA) reached on an infield error, but Quagliaroli was able to get the final out on a popout to Vita.

Eastern  forced  extra innings with two runs in the eighth inning against KSC senior starter Tim Thiesing and Quagliaroli.  Thiesing gave up a one-out single to O'Connell and a walk to junior Joe Balowski (Berlin) to bring Quagliaroli into the game.  A fly out moved O'Connell to third, and he scored when Quagliaroli threw a wild pitch.  Sophomore Gavin Lavallee (New Milford), who came on to pinch run for Balowski, scored on sophomore T.J. Larivee's (Salem, MA)  single to left-center field.

Plymouth State 1 , Eastern 0

Senior righty Joe Hudson, making his first start of the season after 14 relief appearances, spun a brilliant game allowing only five singles, one walk and two hit batsman. as the Panthers defeated Eastern for only the fifth time in 35 LEC regular-season and tournament games and avenged two regular-season losses to the Warriors this season.

The Warriors got a runner to third base only one time, that coming in the sixth inning when Accomando reached third on a wild pitch.

The Panthers scored the only run of the game in the second inning as senior Ryan McIntosh led off with a double to left field.  McIntosh moved to third on a one-out wild pitch by losing hurler Andrew Merritt (Norwalk).  After a walk to junior Rew Wilson, junior David Tammaro beat out a fielder's choice to drive in McIntosh.

Plymouth  had a potential second run cut down at the plate in the fourth inning senior Luke Merrill was tagged out trying to score on Wilson's fly ball to right field.

In Friday's two games, six Eastern pitchers surrendered only five earned runs but the Warriors managed only three runs on 12 hits and one extra-base hit. Dimmon gave up only one earned run in 5 1/3 innings. Accomando, senior Steve Cammuso (Rutland, MA), Larivee and sophomore Mike Vaccarelli (Wolcott) all had two hits but were the only Eastern players with more than one.

Eastern batted .211 in its three tournament games, with Cammuso, Vaccarelli and O'Connell all collecting four hits and Cammuso also reaching with a walk and hit-by-pitch.

Darby wins sixth straight as starter, Cammuso drives in four runs

GORHAM, Maine. Junior lefty Tom Darby (Middletown, RI) won his sixth straight decision as a starter and sophomore Danny O'Connell (Braintree, MA) and senior Steve Cammuso (Rutland, MA) drove in first-inning runs to help lift the Eastern Connecticut State University baseball team to a 6-3 verdict over 2011 tournament champion Rhode Island College in an opening game of the 2012 Little East Conference Baseball Tournament at the USM Baseball Stadium.

At left: Steve Cammuso

A winner of seven of its last nine, fourth-seeded Eastern (29-11) faces No. 2 see Keene State College (30-11) in a winners' bracket game Thursday at 3:30 p.m. The Owls trimmed No. 5 Massachusetts Boston, 6-5, in Wednesday's second game. Top-seeded University of Southern Maine was upended by No. 6 Plymouth State University, 3-2, in Wednesday's first game.

Southern Maine faces UMass Boston in an elimination game Thursday at 9:30 a.m. and Plymouth meets Rhode Island at 12:30 p.m. If Eastern defeats Keene State, it will face the Plymouth-Rhode Island winner Friday at 9:30 a.m.

Eastern snapped a four-game losing streak at the hands of Rhode Island (25-16), which had swept the Warriors, 12-7, 8-0, two weeks ago at Mansfield after downing Eastern twice in the 2011 LEC tournament at Mansfield.

Darby (6-0) allowed three runs on seven hits and four walks through the first five innings but the Warriors never trailed after taking the early 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Leading 3-1, Esatern scored three times in the fifth after there were two out and none on. O'Connell reached on an infield single and junior Joe Balowski (Berlin) walked before Cammuso launched his third home run of the season to left off RIC junior righty  David Hoey (6-2). In RIC's regular-season shutout  of Eastern, Hoey became the first RIC pitcher in 35 years to hold the Warriors scoreless in a complete game.

After commiting seven errors in the two regular-season losses to the Anchormen, Eastern put together its first errorless game in three weeks Wednesday and only  its fifth all season.

O'Connell had three hits and Cammuso and sophomore Mike Vaccarelli (Wolcott) two each. Cammuso plated four runs and scored two and O'Connell scored twice.

Since winning six straight, Rhode Island has now split its last 16. The Anchormen  stranded 14 runners on base against four Eastern pitchers. Down 6-1 in the bottom of the fifth, RIC scored once on a leadoff triple by No. 9 hitter Kevin Carey and a ground ball, but Darby stranded runner son second and third with a fly ball to right and swinging strikeout.  The Anchormen also left the bases loaded in the seventh when junior righty Evan Chamberlain (Amston) fanned Cody Ortega to end the inning.

Senior righty Michael Hepple (Newington) pitched a scoreless ninth to gain his fourth save. With the tying run at bat, Hepple got Ortega to ground to Vaccarelli at third to end the game.

Since moving into the starting rotation a month ago, Darby  is 6-0 in six starts witih a 1.70 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 37.0 innings, with opponents batting just .215 against him.

Eastern has won the LEC tournament the last three times that it has been hosted by Southern Maine, defeating Keene twice in the final and Southern Maine once. The Warriors are now 13-2 in their last 15 games played at USM in this tournament.

One game behind leader at start of weekend, Warriors finish fourth in LEC

TOUIRNAMENT CENTRAL

Steve Bizzaro (at left)

GORHAM, Maine -- Sophomore John Carey had four hits  and three RBI to help the University of Southern Maine Huskies sweep No. 21  Eastern Connecticut State University, 4-2 and 5-1, in Little East Conference baseball action Saturday afternoon at the USM Baseball Stadium.

The sweep extended the Huskies' winning streak to a season-high seven games and improved their overall record to 23-16.  By virtue of the sweep, the Huskies won the LEC regular season crown for the second time in four years and will host the conference's six-team, double-elimination championship tournament that will start Wednesday morning.

The Warriors had their six-game winning snapped with the first-game loss.  The Warriors finished the regular season 28-11 overall and 8-6 in LEC play. 

The Warriors will be the fourth seed in the upcoming tournament.

Heading into the weekend, Eastern had a chance to win or share its 12th regular-season LEC title in 16 years. The Warriors shared second place in the conference standings on Thursday with Keene State College and Rhode Island College, one game behind Southern Maine. On Friday, Keene swept UMass Dartmouth at home and Rhode Island split at UMass Boston. Thus, after being swept, the Warriors landed in fourth place in the final standings, three games back of Southern Maine, two behind Keene and one behind 2011 LEC tournament champ Rhode Island College.

The conference record is the worst in six years for Eastern, which won last year's regular-season title and shared the crown in 2010. The last time the Warriors finished with as many as six conference losses they won the LEC tournament in 2006, hosted by Southern Maine as the No. 3 seed.

There was good and bad news for Eastern resulting from the sweep. The bad news is that the Warriors missed out on a chance for at least a share of the LEC regular-season title and will open the tournament against No. 3 seed Rhode Island College, a team which won last year's LEC tournament at Eastern. After losing 15 in a row to Eastern, the Anchormen have beaten the Warriors the last four times the teams have met

The good news is that Eastern has won the LEC tournament the last three times that it has been hosted by Southern Maine (2001, 2006, 2009).

Eastern will face Rhode Island in the third of three games Wednesday. With an opening win the Warriors would play in the third game Thursday against the winner of a Wednesday game between No. 2 Keene State College and No. 5 UMass Boston. A Wednesday loss would drop Eastern into an elimination game Thursday. The Warriors would play the second game of the day against the winner of Wednsday's game between No. 1 Southern Maine and No. 6 Plymouth State University. 

Eastern closed out the regular season with six straight road games, having won the first four.
For Eastern, junior Mike Riemer (Ellington) led an 11-hit attack in the opener with three hits.  Junior Joe Balowski (Berlin), sophomore Danny O'Connell (Braintree, MA) and rookie Steve Bizzaro (Wappingers Falls, NY) each had two hits.  Senior Evan Chamberlain (Amston) started on the hill and was saddled with the loss after lasting just one-third of an inning.

Senior catcher Steve Cammuso (Rutland, MA) had a 17-game hitting streak snapped in the first game when he grounded out four times and flew out once in five plate appearances. Cammuso began a new streak with an infield single in the seventh inning of the nightgap.

In the second game, Bizzaro and sophomore Adam Roderick (West Hartford) had two hits.  Senior right-handed starter Jim Dimon (Seymour) pitched into the seventh inning allowing six hits and one earned run while striking out four.  An infield throwing error in the fourth inning resulted in two unearned runs against Dimon.

Carey had a key RBI single in the Huskies' three-run first-inning uprising in the opening game, and had a pair of RBI singles and a steal of home on a double steal in the nightcap.  His steal of home in the fourth inning put the Huskies in the lead for good.

Rookie Jake Glauser was the Huskies only other repeat hitter in the opener getting a double and two singles.

Senior right-hander Ben Ives picked up his eighth win of the season without a loss by going seven innings allowing 10 hits and three walks while fanning three.  Junior southpaw Nick Douglass earned his sixth save of the year going the final two innings.

In the second game, four USM hurlers combined to limit the Warriors to seven hits and one unearned run.  Senior Dustin Stanton, the second pitcher used, picked up his first win of the season, going 3 1/3 innings.  Douglass and sophomore Forrest Chadwick combined to get the final five outs.  Sophomore left-hander Logan Carman started and went four innings giving up only one hit and the unearned run.

Carey, juniors Tucker White Brett Barrett and sophomore Matt Verrier each had two hits in the second game.  Verrier had the only extra base hit, a double, in the game.

Game One

After spotting the Warriors a 1-0 lead in the opening inning when Roderick scored on a fielder's choice, the Huskies took advantage of two hit batters and three hits to push three runs across.  Senior David Ricker  opened the inning being hit by a pitch, and Glauser followed with a single.  White doubled home Ricker and sent Glauser to third.  Junior Nick Grady was clipped by another Chamberlain pitch to load the bases.  Chadwick brought home Glauser with a groundout, and Carey singled in White to end Chamberlain's day.

USM picked up an insurance run in the fourth as Verrier walked, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on Glauser's double.

The Warriors got a run of Ives in the fifth to close the gap to 4-2.  Balowski, sophomore T.J. Larivee (Salem, MA) and O'Connell strung together consecutive singles to produce a run, but Ives escaped further damage as the Huskies turned an inning-ending double play.

Douglass had an eventful two-inning save putting two Warriors aboard in each inning, but was able to get the key outs.

Game Two

The Warriors took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Bizzaro singled and moved to second on a wild pitch.  He advanced to third on an infield error, and scored by beating the relay throw when the Huskies left home plate unattended after putting out sophomore Kyle Tehan (Oakville) during a rundown between first and second.

Carey tied the game in the fourth driving in Grady, and helped the Huskies take the lead when he and Barrett worked the double steal.

The Huskies added to their lead with a single run in the seven inning as Barrett scored on sophomore Matt Powers' groundout.  The Huskies plated two more in the eighth inning on Carey's RBI single and Barrett's successful squeeze bunt.

Douglass came on to getting an inning-ending lineout into a double play in the eighth, and Chadwick got three straight fly ball outs in the ninth to give the Huskies the sweep.

USM Sports Information contributed to this game account
 

Darby (5-0) is backed by 15-hit attack as they win sixth in row, 7-2

AMHERST, Mass. -  Senior lefty Tom Darby (Middletown, RI) pitched into the eighth inning for the first time in his career and the middle of the Eastern Connecticut State University baseball lineup  combined for 11 hits as the Warriors won their sixth straight, 7-2,over  Amherst College Wednesday afternoon.

At right: Tom Darby

The loss will be the only one of the regular season at home for Amherst (23-8), which had a 15-game regular-season home winning streak snapped. Eastern (28-9) equaled its longest winning streak of the season and has captured 12 of its last 15. The Warriors  are ranked No. 21 in Division III and sixth in New England, Amherst No. 29 nationally and No. 7 in New England. Eastern is now 5-2 against teams ranked in this week's New England Coaches' Poll and improved to 18-5 away from home this year.

Eastern collected 15 hits  off five Amherst pitchers in support of Darby's fifth win this year without a loss. Darby, who has averaged 6+ innings in five starts, defeated his fourth straight regionally-ranked opponent by allowing only eight hits and one run with four strikeouts and two walks. In his previous three starts, Darby defeated No. 1 Wheaton, No. 3 Trinity and No. 8 Bridgewater State.

Senior Steve Cammuso (Rutland, MA), and sophomores Danny O'Connell (Braintree, MA), and Mike Vaccarelli (Wolcott) each had three hits for Eastern. Cammuso drove in two runs as did sophomore T.J. Larivee (Salem, MA), who had two hits and scored twice. Cammuso hit safely in his 17th straight game to push his batting average over .300 to .301.

Eastern Connecticut loaded the bases in the second but would not get on the board until pushing three runs across in the third, as they strung together five singles in a span of six batters. Dylan Driscoll '14 retired the Warriors in order in the fourth, but they got back to work when Larivee ignited a one-out rally with a double that led to two more runs and a 5-0 ECSU lead.

After Larivee's second RBI of the day made it a 6-0 game in the top of the sixth, the Jeffs came up inches short of their first run when Cammuso reached over the fence in left field to rob Kevin Heller '12 of a homer. Heller hit the ball hard enough to clear the fence for what would have broken Amherst's career home run record (18), but Cammuso braced himself on the fence with his right hand and made the impressive catch with his left.

Cammuso then led off the seventh with a single up the middle and came around to score the Warriors' seventh run on a groundout. Amherst chased Darby from the game in the eighth after three consecutive singles were followed by a walk, with Cook putting the Jeffs on the board by lacing a base hit back up the middle.

With the bases still loaded in the eighth, sophomore Pat Barnett (Windsor) got Eastern  out of the jam by picking up a strikeout before an Amherst runner was thrown out at home while trying to score on a passed ball. The Jeffs made it a 7-2 game in the ninth when Brendon Hardin '15 came home on a single to center by Alex Hero '14, but they would close the game with runners stranded on second and third after Barnett recorded another strikeout.

Driscoll (4-1), a sophomore righty, picked up his first loss of the season by surrendering five runs on 12 hits--11 singles--in the first 4.1 innings. Amherst's bullpen gave up only three hits the rest of the way, with Adam Medoff '13 pitching a perfect eighth inning and Dylan Joyce '12 retiring the side in order in the ninth.

Eastern closes out the regular season Friday with a noon doubleheader at the University of Southern Maine. Unofficially, a sweep gives Eastern no worse than a share of the regular-season title and the No. 1 conference tournament  seed.

 Purnell limits Jumbos to one run in relief for No. 18-ranked team

MEDFORD, Mass. - Junior righty Matt Purnell (Stafford Springs) pitched 3+ stellar innings in relief and sophomore third baseman Mike Vaccarelli (Wolcott) sparked a four-run sixth inning with a tie-braeaking two-out, two-run triple as the Eastern Connecticut State University baseball team won its fifth straight, 6-5, over Tufts University Monday afternoon at Huskins Field.

At left: Matt Purnell

As the third of four Eastern (27-9) pitchers, Purnell (1-3) won his first game of the season by fanning four and allowing only two hits and a run in 3 1/3 innings before senior righty Michael Hepple (Newington) nailed down the win by striking out the final batter of the game in a 1-2-3 ninth for his third save.

Since being swept in a Little East conference home doubleheader by Rhode Island College  nine days ago, No. 18 ranked Eastern has won five straight. Ranked sixth in the most New England poll, released today, the Warriors have won four of six against teams ranked in this week's poll.

A loser of four straight, Tufts scored three unearned runs off sophomore righty Greg Porter (Mystic) and led 4-2 after five before the Warriors  struck for four runs in the sixth after there were two out and one runner on bases on three hits and two walks. Senior catcher Steve Cammuso (Rutland, MA)  extended his hitting streak to 16 by driving in the first run of the inning. After the tying run scored on a passed ball, Vaccarelli stroked his first career triple to plate Cammuso and sophomore leftfielder Adam Roderick (West Hartford), who had walked.

Purnell came on in the fifth to strand two runners with a strikeout after the Jumbos had scored once to take a 4-2 lead and allowed only one run before giving way to Hepple to start the ninth. Purnell allowed a single, walk and sacrifice fly in the sixth but struck out three and surrendered just one hit in the seventh and eighth.

Vaccarelli also had a sacrifice fly and finished with three RBI while junior first baseman Joe Balowski (Berlin) recorded his team-leading 22nd multiple-hit game with two singles. Sophomore shortstop Danny O'Connell (Braintree, MA) also had two hits  and has hit  safely in 25 of his last 28 games.  Cammuso has raised his batting average nearly 100 points to .291 during his hitting streak.

Eastern visits Amherst College Wednesday at 4 p.m. The Lord Jeffs are ranked seventh in New England.

Sweep of UMD moves them within two wins of regular-season title

NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. --  In the opener of a Little East Conference baseball doubleheader, senior righty Jim Dimon (Seymour) struck out a career-high 13 batters without a walk in the second complete game of his two-year career and Eastern Connecticut State University went on to a 6-3, 7-2 sweep of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Saturday at the UMD Athletic Complex.

At right: Jim Dimon

Eastern (26-9, 8-4 Little East) began the day in fourth place in the conference - two games behind Keene State College  and a game back of the University of Southern Maine and Rhode Island College - but moved into a three-way tie for second place with Keene State and Rhode Island after Saturday's play, one game behind leader Southern Maine. Southern Maine swept homestanding Keene State and Rhode Island split a home doubleheader with Western Connecticut.

A sweep at Southern Maine Friday at Gorham, ME in the regular-season finales would give Eastern at least a share of the regular-season crown. If the Warriors sweep, they would unofficially win the regular-season title outright and gain the No. 1 tournament seed if visiting Rhode Island splits with UMass Boston and Keene splits with visiting UMass Dartmouth Friday.

Dimon (3-0) outdueled UMass Dartmouth (14-21, 3-9 Little East) sophomore righty Karney Boff (4-4) in the opener, allowing seven hits and only two earned runs. In the nightcap, junior righties Andrew Merritt (Norwalk),  Evan Chamberlain (Amston) and Matt Purnell (Stafford Springs) combined on a six-hitter with ten strikeouts and two walks. Merritt (3-2) gained the win by giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits and two walks with seven strikeouts over the first seven innings.  Purnell fanned two batters in a 1-2-3 ninth.

With Eastern leading 2-1 in the first game,  sophomore  third baseman Mike Vaccarelli (Wolcott)  swatted a three-run home run after junior centerfielder Mike Riemer (Ellington) and senior catcher Steve Cammuso (Rutland, MA) opened the inning by reaching safely with a single and double, respectively.

Eastern completed its first sweep of UMass in four years in the second game when by scoring the final seven runs after the Corsairs had taken a 2-1 in the first by scoring twice after there were two out and none on on a walk, two singles and an outfield error.

Sophomore leftfielder Adam Roderick's (West Hartford) sacrifice fly tied the game in the second and sophomore shortstop Danny O'Connell (Braintree, MA) put the Warriors ahead for good, 4-2, with a two-run home run in the third. Sophomore DH T.J. Larivee (Salem, MA) doubled with two out and came home on O'Connell's second home run of the year.

Cammuso had three hits in the doubleheader to stretch his hitting streak to 15, with O'Connell and Riemer also collecting three and Vaccarelli, Larivee, Roderick and junior first baseman Joe Balowski (Berlin) registering two each. Balowski drove in three runs, as did Vaccarelli, with O'Connell and Roderick plating two each. Riemer doubled twice and Cammuso also reached twice on walks.

Eastern  visits Tufts University Monday at 3 p.m.

Against No. 2 Wheaton, Darby effective again as starter; Balowski hits HR

LISTEN: Post-game interview with Joe Balowski, who discusses his home run(Courtesy of Wayne Norman.mp3

MANSFIELD, Conn. -- Junior lefty Tom Darby (Middletown, RI) contributed his fourth straight quality start and junior first baseman Joe Balowski (Berlin) hit a two-run home run in the third inning as the Eastern Connecticut State University baseball team defeated Wheaton College (MA), 4-2, Thursday afternoon at the Eastern Baseball Stadium.

At left: Tom Darby (Nicolas Wilcox photo)

Ranked No. 18 nationally, Eastern (24-9) improved to 11-4 at home this year and defeated Wheaton (30-6) for the first time in the last three meetings in the final regular-season home game of the year. The Lyons, ranked No. 1 in New England and No. 2 nationally, have lost two straight for the first time this year.

After pitching out of the bullpen in his first eight outings this year without a decision, , Darby is 4-0 in four starts. In those games, he has fanned 26 in 24 2/3 innings with a 1.10 ERA.  His previous wins came over Salve Regina, Bridgewater State, and nationally-ranked Trinity College.

Against Wheaton, Darby pitched into the seventh inning, allowing only one run on three hits while fanning six and walking four.

Balowski's third home run of the season in the third inning off Wheaton senior Nolan Corr put the Warriors in front for good, and after the Lyons got one back in the fourth on junior catcher Dan Gusovsky's two-out, RBI double, the Warriors tacked on two insurance runs in the seventh on two hits, a walk and an infield error. After a throwing error accounted for the first run of the inning, senior catcher Steve Cammuso (Rutland, MA) knocked in  freshman pinch runner Steve Bizzaro (Wappingers Falls, NY).

Trailing 2-1, Wheaton had the tying run on third with two out in the seventh on a leadoff single by senior leftfielder John Keating, sacrifice bunt and infield ground ball before junior righty Evan Chamberlain (Amston) came on to fan No. 2 hitter Eric Jensen on four pitches. Chamberlain gave up one run on four hits with four strikeouts and no walks to earn his third save of the season in nien relief appearances.

The single extended Cammuso's hitting straek to 13 Sophomore leftfielder Adam Roderick (West Hartford) stole two bases in the seventh inning and scored the first run of the frame on a throwing error and is now 21-for-23 in steals this season.

Eastern  visits the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Saturday in a Little East Conference doubleheader at noon.

 They collect season-high 21 hits to back Porter's seven-inning stint

MANSFIELD, Conn. - Four players had three hits each and sophomore righty Greg Porter (Mystic) won his staff-high fourth game of the year as the Eastern Connecticut State University baseball team routed Wesleyan University, 13-3, in a non-conference game Wednesday night at the Eastern Baseball Stadium.

At left: Greg Porter

Ranked No. 18 nationally, Eastern (23-9) scored seven runs in its first two at-bats on eight hits and went on to its 17th straight win over Wesleyan (18-14). The Cardinals had won their previous  five.

The Warriors amassed a season-high 21 hits - 17 of them singles - off six Wesleyan pitchers, three of whom were freshmen. Porter (4-0) equaled his career-high set in his most recent start by pitching the first seven innings. He allowed only one earned run on five hits with a career-high nine strikeouts and lowered his ERA to a staff-best1.36.

Junior first baseman Joe Balowski (Berlin), who picked up his 100th career hit Saturday against Rhode Island College, reached three times with two doubles and a hit-by-pitch and scored each time. He has hit safely in his last eight games.

Picking up three hits each were sophomore leftfielder Adam Roderick (West Hartford), sophomore shortstop Danny O'Connell (Braintree, MA), senior catcher Steve Cammuso (Rutland, MA) and sophomore third baseman Mike Vaccarelli (Wolcott).  Sophomore DH T.J. Larivee (Salem, MA) drove in two runs with a pair of infield ground balls and  sophomore Tommy McKenna (Lexington, MA) plated the first two of his career with a pinch single in the eighth. O'Connell was also credited with two RBI with a double in the four-run second and a single in a three-run fourth.

Above: Third baseman Mike Vaccarelli and shortstop Danny O'Connell surround this fifth-inning ground ball off the bat of Wesleyan's Alex Meadow. Vaccarelli threw out the runner for the final out of the inning.

Since batting .193 through his first 20 games, Cammuso has hit safely in his last 12 games to raise his season average to .286

Freshman third baseman Sam Goodwin-Boyd hit his first collegiate home run in the eighth inning for Wesleyan, with senior shortstop Kyle Weiss singling in a run in the Cardinals' seven inning and freshman second baseman Andrew Yin plated the team's first run with a single in the second.

Eastern hosts Wheaton College (MA) Thursday at 6 p.m. The Lyons are ranked second nationally and first in New England.

Bears score  five runs in sixth on five hits and an error to post win

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Western New England baseball team ran its winning streak to eight games with a 9-6 victory over No. 16 Eastern Connecticut  State University Tuesday afternoon at Trelease Park. The Golden Bears improved their record to 24-9 with their fifth straight win over Eastern while the Warriors drop to 22-9 following their third straight loss.

At left: Danny O'Connell

Junior right fielder Matt Anthonis paced the 13-hit attack with two hits, a walk, two runs scored, and a pair of RBI. Junior third baseman Tim Clark contributed two hits with a run and two runs-batted-in.

Eastern jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first following a two-run single by junior first baseman Joe Balowski (Berlin) and run-scoring double by sophomore designated hitter T.J. Larivee (Salem, MA). Sophomore shortstop Danny O'Connell (Braintree, MA) had a RBI single in the third - the 100th hit of his career -- to give the Warriors a 4-1 advantage.

The Golden Bears got two back in the fourth when freshman first baseman Steve Buckley knocked in a run with single and later scored on a wild pitch.

Western New England scored five times in the sixth to open an 8-4 lead with a RBI single by Anthonis and two-run single by junior third baseman Mike Rubino the big hits. Anthonis delivered a sacrifice fly in the eighth to stretch the margin to 9-4.

Eastern, which shares fifth place with the Golden Bears in this week's New England poll, scored twice and had runners on first and second with no outs when junior reliever Mike Lospinuso entered the game. He walked the first batter he faced, but then got a double play grounder and strikeout to end the game.

Senior Mike Lawlor (3-2) gained the win in relief by pitching four-and-two-thirds innings allowing four hits and two runs (one earned) with four walks and four strikeouts.

Senior designated hitter Mike Taylor and junior leftfielder Taylor Perun also singled twice for the Golden Bears.

Larivee finished with three of the visitors' 12 hits while Balowski chipped-in with two hits and three RBI with a run scored. O'Connell also had two hits.

The Warriors used four pitchers with senior Michael Hepple (Newington)  taking his second loss against two wins . He went five innings in only his second start in 19 appearances this season giving up nine hits and five runs with a walk and four strikeouts.

Eastern hosts Wesleyan University Wednesday at 6 p.m.