Baseball Suffers Two Setbacks to Salve Regina Monday

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene baseball team dropped a pair of league tilts to Salve Regina Monday afternoon at Adams Field, falling 10-4 and 10-8.

The Lions slip to 11-15 on the season and 3-11 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference with the losses. The Seahawks improve to 21-11 overall and 10-4 in conference play with the wins.

Pat Yee (Lynnfield, Mass.) paced Eastern Nazarene offensively with three extra-base hits, two doubles and a homer, while scoring three times and driving in two RBIs. Anthony Berroa (Teaneck, N.J.) added three hits, two RBIs and two runs scored. Rocco Martinelli (Panama City, Panama) recorded three RBIs on a pair of base knocks.

The visitors took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning as Ryan Kelly came around to score on a single by Dominic Di Sano.

Eastern Nazarene tallied twice in the bottom of the first to claim a 2-1 edge. After the first three batters of the frame reached base, Martinelli drew a bases-loaded walk to plate Yee. Justin Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.) drove in the hosts' second run of the inning with a squeeze bunt as Jeremy Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.) bolted home.

The Seahawks notched five runs in the top of the second to capture the lead, 6-2. Kelly tripled to right-center to score a pair with two outs. The visitors added runs later in the frame as Di Sano and Tyler Colby each collected RBI base knocks.

Salve Regina tacked on four runs in the fourth to establish an eight-run advantage, 10-2.

The Lions got a run back in the home half fourth inning as Jake Koch (Dayton, Nev.) scampered home on a groundout by Yee.

Eastern Nazarene picked up a run in the bottom of the seventh to slice the deficit to 10-4. Justin Calloway (Moore, Okla.) crossed the plate on a groundout by Martinelli.

Brandon Wells (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) started the game on the mound and went three and two-third innings while striking out two batters.

Nathan Russell (San Diego, Calif.) surrendered just three hits in three and a third scoreless innings of relief action.

In the nightcap, the Seahawks pushed across a run in the top of the first to seize a 1-0 lead. Kelly came around to score on a groundout by Di Sano.

The Lions leveled the contest at 1-1 in the bottom of the second frame. David Manning (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) pounded a solo home run off of the foul pole in right field with two outs for his first blast of the season and fourth of his career.

Salve Regina reclaimed the lead in the top of the third with three scores, 4-1. Hunter Sleeper rounded third and crossed the plate on a single up the middle by Kelly with one out. Di Sano followed with an RBI double to drive in Kelly before scoring on a single by Colby.

The visitors chalked up three runs in the top of the fourth to extend their lead to 7-1. Alek Kucich and Joe Haley both touched the dish on a double off the bat of Hunter Sleeper. Anthony Conte drove in Sleeper from second base with a single up the middle.

Eastern Nazarene push across a run in the bottom of the frame to pull the score to 7-2. Koch hoisted a sacrifice fly to left field and Martinelli tagged up from third.

The Seahawks responded with two tallies in the top of the fifth to take a 9-2 advantage.

The home side scored twice in the fifth to narrow the margin to 9-4. Yee led off the inning with his first collegiate dinger over the fence in left field. After Berroa raked a triple to center, Martinelli rolled a grounder to the right side of the infield to plate the senior from third.

Salve Regina added a run in the sixth to reach double figures, 10-4, as Daniel Donohue motored home on a wild pitch.

The Lions rallied in the home half of the seventh with four runs to cut the deficit to 10-8. With the bases loaded, Berroa laced a two-run double down the line in left to plate Kurt Picarelli (Montrose, N.Y.) and Yee. Jeremy Wagner trotted home with Eastern Nazarene's third run of the inning on a wild pitch. Calloway capped off the scoring as he picked up an RBI on a ground out to score Berroa.

Quentin Moore (Sheridan, Calif.) pitched four innings to start the game for the home side. Nick Penkala (Nashua, N.H.), Doug English (Myrtle Beach, S.C.), Alex Alcantara (Bronx, N.Y.) and Yee all made relief pitching appearances.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene steps out of conference play to battle Fitchburg State on the road April 23.