Musson Hurls Complete-Game Win In NCAA Tournament

MANSFIELD,  Conn. - Will Musson (Wethersfield, Conn.) pitched a complete-game seven-hitter with a career-high 13 strikeouts and John Parke (Middlefield, Conn.) and Travis Bass (West Hartford, Conn.) combined for nine hits to power the top-seeded Eastern Connecticut State University baseball team to a 13-2 victory over fifth-seeded Suffolk University Thursday morning in an elimination game of the 2009 NCAA Division III New England Regional Tournament at the Eastern Baseball Stadium.

Eastern Connecticut (36-7) advances in the losers' bracket Friday at 1:15 p.m. against the loser of a late Thursday night game between second-seeded University of Southern Maine and third-seeded Trinity College. Suffolk (30-11) is eliminated from its fourth NCAA tournament after losing consecutive nine-inning games for the first time this season. In Wednesday's 7-6 first-round loss to fourth-seeded WPI, the Rams scored four runs in the eighth to tie the contest before the Engineers scored the go-ahead run in the eighth.

Five of the seven hits were singles against Musson (9-0), who struck out the side once and fanned two in the first and two in the ninth. A first-year transfer from the University of Connecticut,  Musson becomes the fifth pitcher in program history to win as many as nine games in a season without a loss. Seven different Suffolk batters had one hit each

With the win, the Warriors avoid losing its first two games in the New England Regional since 1980.

Hitless with three strikeouts in Wednesday's 10-6 opening loss to Babson College, Bass had five straight hits Thursday after striking out in the first. He drove in three runs and scored two as the No. 2 batter in the lineup. Batting leadoff, Parke also reached safely five times with four hits and a walk. He scored four runs and drove in two.  In two tournament games, Parke is 7-for-10 with three RBI and four runs scored.

Shawn Gilblair (Windham, Conn.) drove in four runs with a ground ball, two sacrifice flies and a single. Robert Perry (Manchester, Conn.) added three hits and scored two runs.

Bobby Barrett (Milton, Mass.) drove in both Suffolk runs with a first-inning ground ball and third-inning double.