Baseball Swept by Defiance Monday

FORT MYERS, Fla.- The Eastern Nazarene College baseball team endured a pair of setbacks to Defiance College Monday afternoon at historic Terry Park in Fort Myers, Florida Monday afternoon.

The Lions sink to 1-3 on the season with losses of 10-5 and 16-3. The Yellow Jackets improve to 2-2 overall with the results.

Freshman John Greenlee (San Marcos, Calif.) paced Eastern Nazarene with four hits on the day to go with one RBI and a run scored. Cameron Fiorentino (Uxbridge, Mass.) finished with three hits, one run scored and an RBI in the doubleheader. Jeremy Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.) collected three base knocks while Nick Story (Gilbert, Ariz.) added two hits and crossed the plate once.

Both teams notched 10 hits as the Yellow Jackets doubled up the Lions in game one of the series, 10-5.

Defiance pushed a run across in the top of the first inning to jump out to a 1-0 edge.

Eastern Nazarene responded with two runs in the home half of the second to claim a 2-1 advantage. Kurt Picarelli (Montrose, N.Y.) roped a double to the wall in left field to drive in Fiorentino from first base, leveling the score at 1-1. Greenlee followed with a single to center to plate Picarelli for the go –ahead run.

The Yellow Jackets recaptured the lead in the top of the third, 7-2, scoring six runs. Zack Reed homered down the left field line to leadoff the frame. Ryan Kohlhofer crossed the plate as Dom Gentile grounded out to the shortstop. Gary Levengood scampered home on an infield single by Quinten Harrington. Ben Weber scored as Tyler Weaver reached on a fielder's choice. With the bases loaded, Reed sent a single back up the middle to drive in a pair of RBIs.

Defiance widened the gap to 9-2 in the fourth frame. Gentile motored home as Harrington reached on a fielder's choice before Weaver singled to score Weber from second base.

The Lions got a run back in the bottom of the fourth, cutting the deficit to 9-3. Brandon Wynne (West Haven, Conn.) trotted home as Fiorentino sprinted down the first base line to beat out an infield single to pick up his first base knock of the spring.

Eastern Nazarene trimmed the gap to 9-5 with a pair of runs in the sixth inning. Greenlee and Anthony Esposito (Mount Royal, N.J.) came in to score as Jeremy Wagner reached on a dropped pop-up.

The Yellow Jackets tacked on a run in the top of the seventh to extend their lead to 10-5 as Kohlhofer blasted a solo homer to left field.

In his first collegiate start on the hill, Zachary Carmody (Babylon, N.Y.) fanned two batters in 2.2 innings. Rob Dukes (Spencer, Mass.) worked 1.1 innings of relief action and allowed two hits in his first outing of the season. Ragan Cole (Alamogordo, N.M.) tossed two innings and struck out two in his first appearance for the Lions. Kenny Sorensen (Quincy, Mass.) and Brandon Imonti (Tewksbury, Mass.) both toed the rubber in the seventh.

In the afternoon tilt, Defiance rolled to a 16-3 win after a 17-hit effort.

Defiance opened the scoring in the bottom of the first, exploding for seven runs to establish a 7-0 lead. The Yellow Jackets added four runs in the second frame to expand their advantage to 11-0.

Eastern Nazarene got on the board in the top of the fourth inning. Justin Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.) laced a two-out single to left field to allow Story to round third and score from second base.

Defiance chalked up two runs in the bottom of the frame to stretch the margin to 13-1 as Reed landed a two-run triple in the gap in left-center.

The Yellow Jackets increased their lead to 15-1 with a pair of scores in the fifth.

The Lions plated a pair of run in the sixth to trim the deficit to 15-3. Josue Basilis (Bronx, N.Y.) landed his first collegiate hit and drove in Andrew Santora (Middle Village, N.Y.) and Greenlee.

Defiance picked up a run in the home half of the sixth to cap off the scoring.

Rookie Connor Simpson (Haverhill, Mass.) allowed four hits as he made his first career start on the mound. Joel DeFreitas (New Bedford, Mass.) logged 3.1 innings of relief action in his second appearance of the season and recorded three strikeouts. Ben Petersen (Manchester, Conn.) made his collegiate debut, throwing one innings and fanning two batters. Sorensen hurled one inning of relief in his second appearance of the day.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene returns to the diamond to take on Wilmington (Ohio) and Wabash Tuesday, March 8.