Mansfield, CT --- Defending national champion and fourth-ranked Eastern Connecticut State topped the WPI baseball team 13-5 in a Wednesday matinee in Connecticut. The national powerhouse Warriors belted out 20 hits in the game, moving to 15-3 on the season, while the Engineers fell to 10-7 overall. 

ESCU's Ryan Leonzi (Trumbull, CT) finished with two hits and four RBI, while Noah Plantamuro (Bristol, CT) drove in three runs on three hits. Josh Cofrancesco (Southington, CT) and Hank Penders (Wethersfield, CT) each tallied four hits and two RBI in the game, while Jason Claiborn (Prospect, CT) added three hits. 

Dylan Scudder (Simsbury, CT) got the win for the hosts, throwing five innings and allowing four runs on six hits with five strikeouts. Nathan Furino (East Haven, CT) threw three scoreless innings in relief, allowing one hit with four strikeouts. 

For WPI, Kyle Johns (Milltown, NJ) drove in four runs, including a three-run homerun, his second of the year. Andrew Cash (Marlboro, MA) also added his second homer of the season, while Jeffrey Brennan (Amsterdam, NY) finished the game 3-for-4. 

The Warriors stuck first with a solo run in the bottom of the first inning. Mason Balmer (North Haven, CT) led off with a single, while a walk and a Colby Linnell (Prospect, CT) single loaded the bases. After a strikeout, Plantamuro sent one deep enough to score Balmer on a sac fly to make it 1-0. 

In the bottom of the third, a one-out single from Claiborn was plated by a Cofrancesco base hit to push the ECSU advantage to 2-0. 

WPI got on the board in the top of the fourth inning, as Cash belted a solo shot to cut the lead to 2-1. 

Eastern Connecticut responded with four runs off of six hits and an error in the bottom of the fourth, extending the advantage to 6-1. Leonzi drove in a pair of runs on a double, while Claiborn singled in a run and Jared Clark (Bristol, CT) tallied an RBI on a fielder's choice. 

WPI used the long ball to again cut into the deficit in the top of the fifth. Jacob Hand (Niskayuna, NY) doubled and Brennan singled to put two on for DeRoma who launched a three-run homerun to make it a 6-4 game. 

The Warriors wasted no time getting back their lead and more with three more runs in the seventh. Cofrancesco tripled with one out and was sent home on a Penders single. Penders and a single from Plantamuro then scored on a single from Leonzi that made it 9-3. 

In the ECSU eighth, four more runs pushed it to 13-4. Singles from Claiborn, Brent Cosculluela (Miami, FL), and Penders accounted for two runs and a Plantamuro double drove in two more, extending the home team advantage to nine runs. 

The Engineers scored a run in the top of the ninth on four straight walks, including an RBI base on balls from Johns, but the final score finished 13-5 in favor of Eastern Connecticut. 

WPI moves on to conference play next, taking on #21 Wheaton on Saturday, April 1st in a noon doubleheader at Assumption. Eastern Connecticut State heads to Castleton on Saturday for an LEC doubleheader starting at 3pm.