Baseball: Lasers take early lead but fall to second-ranked Warriors

Mansfield, Conn. – The Lasell University Lasers baseball team fell to the number two ranked team in the nation, the Eastern Connecticut State Warriors, 22-2, Wednesday night at Eastern Baseball Stadium.

The Lasers jumped out two a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning as senior Matthew Bischof (Sleepy Hallow, N.Y.) hit a home run to right field to bring home sophomore Bryan Baumann (Deerfield, Mass.).

The Warriors got on the board in the third inning starting off with a game tying single from senior Matt Malcom (East Lyme, Conn.) to bring home junior Zach Donahue (South Windsor, Conn.) and Junior Brent Cosculluela (Miami, Fla.). The Warriors took the lead on a bases clearing triple by junior Colby Linnell (Prospect, Conn.) and he quickly came home to score on a single by sophomore Jason Claiborn (Prospect, Conn.).

Donahue got the Warriors on the board in the fourth with an RBI single and was followed up by a three-run home run to left center by graduate student John Mesagno (Tappan, N.Y.). Eastern Connecticut added one more in the fourth as senior Noah Plantamuro (Bristol, Conn.) hit a sacrifice fly to make it an 11-2 game.

Eastern Connecticut State kept it going in the fifth inning starting with an RBI single by senior Ryan Bagdasarian (Glastonbury, Conn.). A few batters later Malcom hit a three run home to right center to add to the lead. A second sacrifice fly by Plantamuro was then followed up after a few batters by sophomore Josh Cofrancesco (Southington, Conn.) who hit a two RBI double down the right field line. The Warriors ended the fifth with a two RBI double by sophomore Alejandro Soriano (Hartford, Conn.) capping off a nine-run inning.

The Warriors added one more in the sixth as senior Dean Slavin (Tappan, N.Y.) came home to score on an error.

Freshman Adriel Espada (Bridgeport, Conn.) scored in the eighth on an error to cap off the scoring for the game and take a 22-2 victory.

Sophomore Nolan Lincoln (Londonderry, N.H.) got the win for the Warriors throwing five innings while giving up two runs on five hits and striking out five. Malcom led the way on offense with five RBIs and Megasano along with Linell both had three RBIs. Confrancesco, Soriano and Plantamuro all had two RBIs for the Warriors.

Freshman Pierce Clare (Middletown, R.I.) was solid in relief for the Lasers throwing two innings while giving up one hit and one unearned run while striking out six. Bischof led the way at the plate going two for three with two RBIs. Sophomore Matthew Paharik (West Boylston, Mass.) also went two for three at the plate.

The Lasers will be back in action on Thursday, April 28, when they play host to Curry College in a nighttime matchup. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.