Baseball Falls to 15th Ranked Eastern Connecticut, 15-7

MANSFIELD, Conn. – The Bridgewater State University baseball team dropped a 19-7 decision to host Eastern Connecticut State University on Wednesday afternoon at the Eastern Baseball Stadium.

Eastern backed senior lefty Tom Darby's (Middletown, RI) second win in as many career starts with a 20-hit attack.

After coming out of the bullpen in his first ten career appearances, Darby (2-0) has won both of his career decisions as a starter in his last two appearances. Against Bridgewater, Darby fanned six and walked two and allowed one run on five hits over the first six innings.

Ranked No. 15 nationally, Eastern (17-6) had runs in every inning after the first and finished with a season-high 20 hits – its ninth straight game of at least ten. Trailing 16-1, Bridgewater State (15-12) scored six of its runs in the seventh on four hits, a pair of Warriors miscues and two walks.

Six of Eastern's hits went for extra bases and the Warriors also benefited from six walks from three Bridgewater pitchers who had combined for only nine innings pitched all season.  The Bears committed six errors in the contest which led to ten of the 19 runs being unearned.

ECSU sophomore Adam Roderick (West Hartford, CT) reached safely four times with three hits – including a double – drove in two runs and scored three.  Senior left fielder Steve Cammuso (Rutland, MA)  hit safely for the sixth time in the last seven games by going 3-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBI. He also walked once.

Sophomore Danny O'Connell (Braintree, MA) extended his hitting streak to 14 with singles in his first two at-bats. Also contributing two hits each were sophomores Gavin Lavallee (New Milford, CT) and T.J. Larivee (Salem, MA) and freshmen Kyle Hart (Guilford, CT) and Armando Soler (Hartford, CT).  Lavallee drove in two runs with a pinch two-run double and Soler had a pair of RBI singles and scored four runs. Junior Joe Balowski (Berlin, CT) swatted his first home run of the year with a runner aboard in the fourth.

Bridgewater No. 3 hitter David Pierce (East Bridgewater, MA), a junior first baseman, had four of his team's ten hits (two doubles), scored two runs and drove in one.  Pierce has seven hits in his last 11 at bats and is batting .448 (13-29) over the last six games.

Sophomore DH James Gilmore (Mansfield, MA) and freshman catcher Anthony Deleo (Athol, MA) each had a hit and a walk in three plate appearances apiece off the bench.  Gilmore scored a run and Deleo drove in one during the Bears' six-run seventh inning.

Eastern visits Plymouth State University Saturday in a noon Little East Conference doubleheader.  Bridgewater entertains Salve Regina University in a non-conference matchup tomorrow afternoon at 3:30.