Baseball Falls to Nationally Ranked ECSU

MANSFIELD, Conn. – The Mitchell College baseball team fell in a non-conference game against nationally ranked #22/#23 Eastern Connecticut State University 6-3 on Friday night at the Eastern Baseball Stadium.

The loss snapped an eight game winning streak for the Mariners, and pushed the Warrior's winning streak to 15 games.

Junior right handed pitcher Chris Gibbs (New Britain, Conn.) got the start and turned in a quality performance for Mitchell despite picking up the loss, surrendering five runs (three earned) over six and one third innings of work, allowing five hits and no walks, striking out seven.

The Mariners took an early two run lead when an Eastern error allowed two Mariners to score in the top of the first. Ian Moser doubled down the left-field life to tie the game in the bottom of the third, before the Warriors went ahead for good when the next batter, Ray Leonzi, reached first on an error, which also allowed Moser to scamper home.

ECSU plated one more run in the bottom of the sixth to push their lead to 4-2. The home squad then scored two more on a pair of wild pitches in the bottom of the seventh, and hung on despite the Mariners getting one run back in the eighth on an RBI single by senior Cole Lalli (Conventry, Conn.).

Lalli finished the day 1-3 with one RBI and one walk, while freshman Michael Ficocelli (North Providence, R.I.) went 1-4 with a pair of runs scored, and Chas Terni Jr. (Montville, Conn.) added a double.

Sophomore starter Dylan Scudder improved his record to 3-1 by throwing five innings of two run ball (none earned), walking five and striking out four. Nolan Lincoln came out of the bullpen and allowed one run across two innings, before Chris Torres worked two no-hit innings to earn his third save of the season.

Senior outfielder Jason Claiborn collected a team-high two hits and scored one run for the Warriors, while Ian Moser went 1-4 with two RBI and a run scored.

The Mariners (16-7, 6-0 GNAC) will look to bounce back on Sunday, April 7th, when they play a home GNAC game against Anna Maria College at 1:00 pm. The Warriors (16-5, 4-0 LEC) will attempt to keep their winning streak alive on Saturday, April 7th, when they host Rhode Island College in a conference doubleheader.