Baseball Falls to Eastern Nazarene, 11-3

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene baseball team captured an 11-3 victory in game one of a conference doubleheader before game two was suspended due to lightning in the bottom of the first inning. The Lions improved to 6-10 on the season and 1-2 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference with the win. The loss drops the Leopards to 8-6 overall and 0-3 in league action.

Anthony Berroa (Teaneck, N.J.) continued his stellar play at the plate with four hits, three RBIs and three runs scored in game one. E.J. Estrada (Alpharetta, Ga.), Rocco Martinelli (Panama City, Panama) and Max Pugh (San Diego, Calif.) all registered a pair of RBI on the day. Michael Chiaradio Jr. (Teaneck, N.J.) and Ryan Garza (Elsa, Texas) each chipped in with one RBI in the opening contest.

The visitors claimed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning of game one. JP Dennehy (Danbury, Conn.) lifted a fly-ball to centerfield to allow Jon Spitz (Hanover, Mass.) to tag up and score from third.

The Lions responded with a 10-run outburst in the home half of the first to go ahead 7-1. After Chiaradio and Estrada opened the inning with a back-to-back singles to right, Berroa drove in Chiaradio from second with a single to left to knot the score at 1-1. Garza laced a one-out single to right to plate Estrada from second base to give the hosts a one-run edge.

Martinelli added to Eastern Nazarene's advantage as he landed a two-out single in shallow left with the bases loaded to drive in Berroa and Garza.  Chiaradio drew a bases-loaded walk and David Manning (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) trotted home and Estrada followed with a two-run single to increase the Lions' lead to 7-1.

Berroa picked up his second and third RBI of the first inning as he raked a two-out triple to right-centerfield. Pugh capped off the scoring in the opening frame with an RBI single through the right side of the infield.

Wentworth tallied a pair of runs in the third to cut the deficit to 10-3. Joe Hulme (Tewksbury, Mass.) and Jake Mailman (Medway, Mass.) collected back-to-back RBI singles with two away in the inning.

Eastern Nazarene pushed one run across the plate in the bottom of the third to widen the margin to 11-3. Berroa hammered his second triple of the game to right-center with one out and motored home on a single by Pugh.

Brandon Wells (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) worked six innings on the mound in his fifth start of the spring. The sophomore recorded five strikeouts en route to earning his second victory of the season. Nathan Russell (San Diego, Calif.) tossed a scoreless inning in the seventh with one strikeout.

Dakota Baird (Bermuda Dunes, Calif.) was tagged with the loss after lasting just two-thirds of an inning. Paul Vergara (Needham, Mass.) pitched 5.1 innings, allowing one run on four hits and striking out five. At the plate, Spitz, Hulme, and Ryan Delgado (Wareham, Mass.) hits two hits apiece. Both of Delgado's hits were doubles.

Eastern Nazarene and Wentworth will resume game two of Monday's twinbill on Tuesday, March 2 at 4:00 pm at Adams Field.

(Portions of this Recap Courtesy of Eastern Nazarene Sports Information)