Box Score ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd baseball team won for the sixth time in its last eight games, using strong pitching and a four-run seventh inning on the way to a 6-2 win over the University of Bridgeport (Conn.) at the Turley Athletic Complex on Tuesday night.
A quartet of pitchers held a high-scoring Bridgeport team at bay. Â
Robin Allen (1-2) earned the first win of his career, tossing five scoreless innings before the Purple Knights finally pushed a run across in the sixth. Â
Chris Paiva got the final out of the inning, stranding two runners.
Allen and Bridgeport's Matt Van Riper battled over the first six innings, although Eckerd needed just one pitch to put the first run on the board. Â Leading off the bottom of the first,
Sam Cochrane blasted Van Riper's first pitch over the right field fence for his first collegiate home run.
Mitch Calandra gave Eckerd a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third with a two-out RBI single to bring in Cochrane from second.
Eckerd (9-13) then built a cushion in the seventh, scoring four times on three hits.
Andrew Don led off the inning with a single and eventually ended up at third before
Jamaal Chaney was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners. Â Chaney took second on a wild pitch, setting the stage for Cochrane's third hit of the night that scored both runners.
A failed pickoff attempt allowed Cochrane to score, and Calandra capped the inning with another RBI single to bring in
Nick Conti.
The Knights scored a run in the ninth inning on a sacrifice fly but it wasn't enough as
Jack Mahan recorded the final two outs.
Allen fanned four while giving up four hits and one unearned run in his start. Â
Justin Carrillo worked 2-1/3 innings in relief, striking out five before giving way to Mahan.
Cochrane went 3-for-5 with three RBIs while Calandra went 2-for-4 with two runs driven in.
The two teams face off again on Wednesday at 6:00 PM.
