The Eastern Connecticut State Warriors (12-2) topped the Suffolk University Rams (7-6 ) by an 8-4 margin on Monday afternoon. Senior Shane Kingsley (Beacon Falls, Conn.) finished the day 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored to lead the Warriors to their eighth win in a row.
Freshman Jake Cintolo (Wrentham, Mass.) and senior Mark Addesa (Revere, Mass.) each had three hits for Suffolk as the Rams outhit the Warriors 12-5 but couldn't capitalize on their opportunities.
The Warriors jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning as freshman Danny O'Connell (Braintree, Mass.) drove in a pair of runs with a single to right.
Suffolk would answer in the bottom half of the inning as Cintolo led the inning off with a single and then came around to score as senior Mark Annese (Winchester, Mass.) singled through the left side of the infield for one of his two hits on the day.
The Warriors broke the game open in a wild fifth inning as they took advantage of three consecutive walks to load the bases. Senior Tyler Turgeon (Norwich, Conn.) drove in a pair of runs with a single and then senior Jim Schult (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) came around to score on an errant outfield throw on the play to clear the bases. Junior Steve Cammuso (Rutland, Mass.) capped the inning with a sacrifice fly to give the Warriors a 6-1 edge.
The Rams cut the deficit in half in the bottom half of the inning as freshman Devan Jones (Roslindale, Mass.) tripled off the right field fence plating Addesa. Jones came around later in the inning on an infield single by senior Andrew Babb (Ashland, Mass.).
Addesa would drive home another Rams run in the sixth, but the Warriors added some insurance in the seventh taking advantage of a couple of Suffolk miscues and another sacrifice fly off of the bat of Cammuso.
Senior Chris Wojick (Ucansville, Conn.) moved to 3-0 on the mound for the Warriors fanning seven Rams' hitters in seven innings of work. Junior Evan Chamberlain (Amston, Conn.) and sophomore Mike Riemer (Ellington, Conn.) did not allow a run out of the Warriors' bullpen working 3 1/3 scoreless innings of relief.
Junior Mitch Monke (Springfield, Ohio) suffered the loss as he battled controlled problems walking six Warriors' hitters. Monke allowed eight runs, four earned in seven innings of work only giving up five hits while punching out seven. Senior Kevin McAvey (Summit, N.J.) pitched two scoreless frames of relief for the Rams only allowing one hit.
Eastern Connecticut will be back in action on Tuesday as they host Manhattanville College at 4:00pm. Suffolk will take on Brandeis University in Waltham this Wednesday at 3:00pm.