Eastern Conn. Sweeps LEC Pair From PSU Baseball

PLYMOUTH, N.H. -Defending Little East Conference baseball champion Eastern Connecticut State University scored 22 runs on 30 hits Saturday afternoon and swept a doubleheader from Plymouth State University, 12-3 and 10-1, at Panther Park.The victories extended Eastern’s winning streak to nine games and improved the Warriors to 17-5 overall and 5-0 in LEC action.  PSU is at the other end of the spectrum, dropping its 13th straight to fall to 1-17 overall and 0-5 in the conference.Senior righthander Joey Serfass and sophomore lefty Ryan DiPietro recorded victories on the hill for the visitors, each improving to 4-0 on the season.  Serfass worked the first seven innings of the opener, allowing seven hits, two walks and three runs (two earned) while striking out six.  DiPietro hurled seven innings of shutout ball in the nightcap, surrendering only three hits and a walk while fanning 13.After being kept off the scoreboard for the first three innings of the opener, ECSU went on to score at least one run in 13 of the next 15 innings, including the final six innings of the first game.  The Warriors went up 5-0 with a run in the fourth and four more in the fifth frame, and put the game away with two runs in each of the next three innings.  Sophomore Greg Sullivan, senior Eugene Julien and sophomore Zach Mehrbach each collected three hits in the opener for the Warriors, and sophomore Chris DeSantis had two hits, including his second home run of the season.PSU scored two of its runs in the opener on a two-run homer in the fifth inning by junior Derek Guimond. Sophomore C.J. Rousseau added an RBI single for PSU in the sixth.  Senior Mike Bradbury pitched well for six innings for the Panthers, but took the loss.Julien added three hits, including a triple, and a pair of RBI to lead Eastern’s 14-hit attack in the nightcap.  Junior Jason Pekrul contributed a pair of doubles, and DeSantis and junior Tom Koch also collected two hits each, with DeSantis smacking a double and Koch legging out a triple.Guimond drew a bases-load walk in the bottom of the ninth for PSU’s only run in the nightcap.  Senior Josh Forest worked the first six innings for the hosts and was saddled with the loss.In other action, Plymouth State played UMass Dartmouth at home on Wednesday, then traveled to face New England College on Thursday. The results were not available at press time. The Panthers next games are Saturday, when they travel to UMass Boston for a doubleheader.