CHESTER, Pa,– Eastern University Baseball used e a strong start from Sean Cottrell to earn a 10-4 win at Widener to open the first MAC Commonwealth series of the year. The senior right-hander allowed only a single earned run over six innings of work.

The Eastern bats were good in support of their senior standout. Led by three hits and three RBI's from Evan Barks and a two hits and two RBi's from Luke Meehen and Justin DiCesare, the Eagles generated 10 runs on 13 hits. Five of those 13 knocks, including a towering opposite field shot from DiCesare, went for extra bases.

The Eagles (7-5, 1-0) scratched out a single run in the second and added two more in the the top of the third. Meehen drove in DiCesare and Barks with a one out double. Thomas Koslusky scored int eh fourth on Barks' second double of the game.

Though he gave up a run in the fourth, Cottrell worked around his biggest jam of the day and struck out a pinch hitter with runners on second and third to keep the Eagles up 4-1. He struck out six hitters to pick up his third win of the year. In five career games against Widener, this is his second win. Eastern and Widener played nine times in 2021.

After both teams went quietly in the fifth the Eagles put some separation between themselves and their hosts with five runs on six hits in the sixth. Connor Schilling and Kozlusky set the table with infield hits and then executed a double steal. Schilling scored on. Robert Del Buono infield hit. Del Buono then took advantage of the runner on third and stole second before scoring on a sharp single from Barks. DiCesare then homered to give the Eagles a 9-1 lead.

Cottrell worked around a hit and an error for a scoreless sixth before giving way to Brennan Moloughney. After working around a walk and a hit-batsman to start the seventh, the rookie left-hander looked poised to get the final nine outs, but pair of walks, an error, a bloop hit and a seeing-eye single allowed the Pride to score three runs and took his pitch count to the point where the Eagles went to their bullpen a second time. Logan Culp struck out the final Widener hitter of the game.

"Every game in conference will be tough," Head Coach Scott Renauro said after the game. "Sean had all of his pitches working and really set the tone for our conference season. Our hitters took time to learn what we were going to be given at the plate, and I think we made good adjustments. DiCesare has been hitting balls hard but to see him go the other way with power was impressive. He made an adjustment and found two barrels. We will need the same type of energy and start tomorrow in two home games."

The Eagles will host the Pride in doubleheader starting at noon.