Baseball Battles Past Lesley in Non-Conference Bout, 10-5

SOMERVILLE, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College baseball team halted a four-game skid with a 10-5 non-league victory over Lesley at Trum Memorial Field Thursday evening.

The Lions elevate to 13-11 on the season with the win while the Lynx fall to 13-14 overall.

Connor Simpson (Haverhill, Mass.) landed a team-best three base hits on the night while also contributing with one RBI and one run scored. Josue Basilis (Bronx, N.Y.) and John Greenlee (San Marcos, Calif.) each finished with a pair of hits, two RBIs and two runs scored. Justin Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.) posted two base knocks and drove in two RBIs while Cameron Fiorentino (Uxbridge, Mass.) chipped in with two hits and an RBI.

Eastern Nazarene plated one run in the top of the third to jump out to a 1-0 edge. After Basilis led off with a double, Justin Wagner roped an RBI single to drive in the first run of the night.

Lesley responded with a run in the bottom of the frame to level the score at 1-1. Mike Slaby drove in Justin Clark with a two-out base hit.

The Lions roared back with three runs in the fourth to build up a 4-1 lead. With two runners on base, Basilis raked a double to plate Joe Commesso (Marshfield, Mass.) and Kurt Picarelli (Montrose, N.Y.). Justin Wagner followed with his second RBI single of the game to score Basilis from second base.

The visitors added a pair of runs in the fifth to widen the margin to 6-1. Greenlee motored home from first as Simpson scorched a double before later crossing the dish as Picarelli reached on an error.

Eastern Nazarene knocked in a run in the sixth to extend its lead to 7-1. Fiorentino drove in Anthony Esposito (Mount Royal, N.J.) from second with a two-out base hit to collect his 10th RBI of the spring.

The Lions generated three runs in the eighth to push the gap to 10-1. Esposito crossed the dish for the second time in the game on a single off the bat of Zachary Carmody (Babylon, N.Y.). Following a pinch-hit single by Andrew Santora (Middle Village, N.Y.), Greenlee belted his second home run of the season over the fence in left-center.

The Lynx produced four runs in the home half of the eighth to cut the deficit to 10-5. Nicholas Ferragine and Ryan Pumphret each drew bases-loaded walks in the inning while Gustavo Polidor and Clark notched RBI hits.

Rob Dukes (Spencer, Mass.) pitched seven innings and recorded three strikeouts as he made his second career start on the mound. Brandon Imonti (Tewksbury, Mass.) tossed one inning and fanned one batter in his fifth relief outing of the year. Kenny Sorensen (Quincy, Mass.) worked the final inning in his team-leading eighth appearance of the season and retired one batter by way of the "K".

Up next, Eastern Nazarene resumes league play April 16 against Wentworth at Adams Field.