Ryan DiPietro claimed that he didn't have his best stuff, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a member of the Manchester College baseball team that believed him.

DiPietro shut Manchester out and allowed just three hits to lead Eastern Connecticut State University to a 10-0 win Friday (May 28) afternoon in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship finals at Fox Cities Stadium.

After throwing a complete game while striking out six to win his 10th game of the season, Eastern head coach Bill Holowaty had a pretty simple assessment of his All-America pitcher.

"He certainly makes you look like a pretty good coach, doesn't he," Holowaty asked.

DiPietro's fastball was a blur to the Spartans' lineup all day. If a batter managed to spot it, he came right back with a curveball that DiPietro claimed was not up to snuff, but nonetheless was ruthless to Manchester batters.

"He's good, what more can you say," Spartans first baseman Ryan Carr said. "You go up to the plate looking for a fastball, and he comes at you with that curve and all you could do was chase after it."

In the fifth, the Warriors' offense broke open what had been an impressive pitchers' duel between DiPietro and Manchester starter Tyler Wolfe.

Wolfe, who had allowed one run on just four hits until that point, walked the first two batters of the inning to bring up Eastern shortstop Eugene Julien, who entered the game hitting a robust .357.

Julien was unsuccessful in a sacrifice attempt to move two baseburners over but regrouped to work the count to 2-2 before slamming an inside fastball to left field for a three-run home run.

"I was just looking to not strike out," Julien said. "I knew if I struck out, I was going to catch it from coach."

Staked to a 5-1 lead after five innings, DiPietro cruised the rest of the way, and while he had trouble getting ahead in the count, he allowed just one hit and one walk over the final four innings.

Eastern sealed the deal in the bottom of the eighth, tacking another five runs on the board on Jason Pekrul's RBI double down the left field line and a three-run home run off the bat of Dwight Wildman.

The win was DiPietro's fourth in postseason competition and second at the finals. He picked up a decision in a 12-2 win over the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in last year's finals.

It was also the 20th win in 21 career decisions for the sophomore, who moved back into first place nationally with a 0.76 earned run average.

"He was just throwing gas," Manchester head coach Rick Espeset said. "He doesn't let you get two men on base in a row."

Wildman led the Warriors (40-9) with three hits, a pair of runs, and four RBI. Pekrul and first baseman Chris DeSantis also added a pair of hits for Eastern, while Julian and Pekrul combined for five RBI.

Eastern will advance to face SUNY-Brockport Saturday (May 29) at 4:30 p.m., while Manchester (35-11) will meet Aurora University in a loser's bracket game at 10 a.m.