Baseball Drops Doubleheader at Curry Saturday

MILTON, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College baseball team endured a pair of league losses at Curry College Saturday afternoon, falling 8-4 and 4-3.

The Lions move to 6-16 on the year and 0-8 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference with the decisions. The Colonels improved to 9-5 overall and 2-1 in conference action with the wins.

Pat Yee (Lynnfield, Mass.) paced the visitors with two base hits, one run scored, one RBI and a stolen base on the day. Justin Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.) finished with two base knocks, one RBI and one run scored. Kurt Picarelli (Montrose, N.Y.) posted one hit, one run scored, one stolen base and a pair of RBIs.

In the series opener, the home team exploded for five runs in the bottom of the first inning to establish a 5-0 lead. Nick Crivello singled up the middle to drive in Evan Morris and Alex McLean. Derek Pizarro followed with an RBI single to plate Philip Perez. Crivello and Pizarro both came around to score on a double down the left field line off the bat of William De La Cruz.

Eastern Nazarene cut the deficit to one run in the top of the third, pushing across four runs. With two runners in scoring position, Cameron Fiorentino (Uxbridge, Mass.) slapped a single to right field to drive in Jake Koch (Dayton, Nev.) before Justin Wagner sprinted home on a wild pitch. Fiorentino tagged up and scored as Yee hoisted a sacrifice fly to center. Jeremy Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.) crossed to plate with the Lions' fourth run of the frame as Rocco Martinelli (Panama City, Panama) reached base on an error.

Curry scored once in the fifth to extend its lead to 6-4. Crivello motored home from third base on a two-out single to centerfield by John Arens.

The Colonels tacked on two runs in the sixth to widen the gap to 8-4 as Crivello laced a two-run double to the gap in right-center to score Perez and Morris.

Brent Houle (Westfield, Mass.) tossed 3.1 innings and struck out four batters. Doug English (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) fanned three batters in 2.1 innings of relief and Rob Dukes (Spencer, Mass.) struck out the second batter he faced to cap off the game.

In the second game of the twinbill, Curry produced three runs in the third inning to seize a 3-0 edge. Arens and Pizarro each crossed the dish as McLean landed a double just inside the left field line. Kyle Connors scored as Tanner Givens reached on an error.

Eastern Nazarene responded with a pair of scores in the top of the fourth to trim the margin to 3-2. After John Oglesby (Hartsville, Tenn.) led off the frame with a single, Yee doubled to right-center and Picarelli raked a double down the line in left field to drive in Oglesby and Yee.

The Lions leveled the game at 3-3 in the top of the seventh inning. Picarelli reached second base on an error to lead off the inning and moved up to third as Eric Shea (Rossmoor, Calif.) pushed a sacrifice bunt towards first base. Justin Wagner picked up his 11th RBI of the season as he poked a two-out single to right field to plate Picarelli.

The Colonels scored the game-winning run with two outs in the home half of the seventh. Crivello singled to right to score Connors from third base as the hosts walked off with the 4-3 victory.

Frank Fusco (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) pitched 6.1 innings and registered four strikeouts. Fiorentino made his second relief appearance of the spring, hurling one-third of an inning and striking out one batter.

Looking ahead, Eastern Nazarene returns home to take on Clark Monday afternoon at Bradley Field.