Baseball Handed Two Losses by Hiram, 8-1 & 13-5

FORT MYERS, Fla.- The Eastern Nazarene baseball team endured a pair of losses to Hiram Tuesday afternoon at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic, falling 8-1 and 13-5. The Lions slide to 2-4 on the year while the Terriers improve to 3-2 overall with the sweep.

Rocco Martinelli (Panama City, Panama), Anthony Berroa (Teaneck, N.J.), Ryan Garza (Elsa, Texas), and Matt Jayne (Quincy, Mass.) all collected two hits on the day to lead Eastern Nazarene offensively.

Hiram plated a run in the bottom of the first as Ian Sewolich scored on a fielder's choice after leading off the inning with a triple.

The Terriers added three runs in the second frame to push their lead to 4-0. Torrey Stimson laced a two-run double to the gap in right-center and trotted home as Jeff Segal drew a bases-loaded walk.

Hiram tacked on a pair of runs in the third inning to stretch the gap to 6-0 on a two-run double by Stimson, his second of the game.

The Terriers scored twice in the fourth to claim an 8-0 advantage. After Segal was hit by a pitch and Travis Richey reached on a walk, Lee Cancilla poked a double to left to drive in both runners.

The Lions got on the board in the fifth to cut the deficit to 8-1. Kurt Picarelli (Montrose, N.Y.) landed a two-out single and advanced to third on a single by Martinelli before motoring home as Brad Hampton (South Daytona, Fla.) reached first on an error.

Freshman Jamie Dominick (Taunton, Mass.) started on the mound and logged 2.1 innings. Pat Yee (Lynnfield, Mass.) made his first pitching appearance of the season, tossing 1.2 innings of relief. Doug English (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) pitched the final two frames in his second outing of the spring.

In game two, Hiram erupted for seven runs in the top of the first inning on seven hits.

Eastern Nazarene tallied its first run of the contest in the home half of the first. Hampton led off the frame by being hit by a pitch and swiping second base. Berroa plated the rookie with a double to left field.

The Terriers restored their lead to seven with a run in the second inning as Shaine Haidet drove in Jim Jaksa with a single to shallow center. Hiram bolstered its advantage with a five-run output in the third, expanding the margin to 13-1.

The Lions pushed a pair of runs across the plate in the bottom of the third to trim the gap to 13-3. Berroa slid into home safely on a passed ball and Pugh came around to score as E.J. Estrada (Alpharetta, Ga.) raked an RBI double to left-center.

Garza scored for Eastern Nazarene in the sixth and Pugh closed out the scoring with his second run of the game in the seventh.

Reese Richmond (Villa Rica, Ga.) hurled 3.2 innings in his first collegiate start. Matt Jordon (Pleasantville, N.Y.) worked 3.1 innings in his second appearance of the season. Pugh closed out the game on the mound, pitching a scoreless seventh inning while striking out the first two batters he faced.

Eastern Nazarene will battle John Carroll in its final twinbill at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic March 7.