Baseball Trades Victories at Western New England Saturday

SPRINGFIELD, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene baseball team halved a league doubleheader at Western New England Saturday afternoon. The Lions claimed a 4-3 win in the opening contest for their first win over the Golden Bears since 2010. The hosts rebounded to earn a 3-1 victory in the second game.

Eastern Nazarene moves to 11-13 on the season and 3-9 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference. Western New England progresses to 13-16-1 overall and 9-5 in conference play with the results.

David Manning (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) and Rocco Martinelli (Panama City, Panama) each registered a pair of hits, scored a run and drove in one RBI for the visitors. Jeremy Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.) also notched two base knocks and one RBI on the day. Anthony Berroa (Teaneck, N.J.) landed two hits while Quentin Moore (Sheridan, Calif.) chipped in with a base knock, RBI and a run scored.

The Golden Bears captured a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning in game one. Kevin Marciano stole home as Steve Ambrosino swiped second base.

The home side tacked on a run in the fourth to double its advantage to 2-0. Matt Anziano doubled to left-center to plate T.J. Wyrebek from first.

The Lions leveled the score at 2-2 with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth. With two runners in scoring position, Jake Koch (Dayton, Nev.) grounded out and drove in Moore for the visitors' first run of the afternoon. Jeremy Wagner's RBI single to right-centerfield allowed Manning to cross the plate with the tying run.

Eastern Nazarene tallied twice in the sixth to take a 4-2 lead. Moore rolled a ground ball to the right side of the infield with the bases loaded to allow Martinelli to scamper home from third with the go-ahead score. Manning drove in an insurance run with a sacrifice fly to left as Max Pugh (San Diego, Calif.) tagged up and scored.

Western New England cut the margin to one with a run in the home half of the sixth, 4-3. Chris Casey crossed the plate on an RBI single to center off the bat of Scott Hubener.

Rookie Frank Fusco (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) earned his second win of the season on the mound, tossing six innings while striking out three. Doug English (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) collected his second save of the year, shutting the door with a flawless seventh inning as he retired the Golden Bears in order.

In the second tilt of the day, the Lions grabbed an early 1-0 edge with a run in the top of the first. Pat Yee (Lynnfield, Mass.) came around to score from second base on a single by Martinelli

Western New England evened the game at 1-1 in the home half of the frame. Marciano crossed the plate on a groundout by Ambrosino to the first baseman.

The Golden Bears seized a one-run advantage in the second inning as Casey doubled to left-center to drive in Matt Calzone from first.

The home team chalked up a run in the fourth to stretch its lead to 3-1. Casey picked up his second RBI of the game as he plated Daniel Morin with a two-out base knock.

Berroa hurled his team-leading third complete game of the year in his sixth start and racked up five strikeouts in six innings.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene returns to the friendly confines of Adams Field to host Salve Regina in a league twinbill April 22.