Baseball Swept in Vital Series by Curry Saturday

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College baseball team dropped a pair of one-run games to Curry Saturday afternoon at Adams Field.

The Lions dip to 15-19 on the season and 2-10 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference. The Colonels improve to 11-19 overall and 5-7 in league play with the results.

Zachary Carmody (Babylon, N.Y.) led the home club with two hits on the day and one run scored. Jeremy Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.) finished with a base knock and one run scored. Jose Arebalo (Brentwood, Calif.) chipped in with a hit and one RBI while Brandon Wynne (West Haven, Conn.) collected his team-leading 13th RBI of the spring.

In the opening game of the series, Eastern Nazarene suffered a narrow 4-3 setback.

Curry knocked in three runs in the top of the first inning to snag a 3-0 lead. Kyle Connors motored home on a wild pitch before Nick Crivello singled up the middle to plate Alex McLean from third. William De La Cruz hit a double to left to drive in Matt Fogarty.

Eastern Nazarene got on the board in the home half of the frame, scoring three times to tie the score at 3-3. Wynne hoisted a sacrifice fly to center and Jeremy Wagner tagged up and scored from third. Kurt Picarelli (Montrose, N.Y.) scampered home as Connor Simpson (Haverhill, Mass.) reached on a fielder's choice and Carmody crossed the plate as Arebalo scorched a single into left field.

The Colonels reclaimed the lead in the top of the seventh, 4-3, tallying one run. Tyler Jenkins delivered a pinch-hit double to left to score Ben Lary from second base.

Cameron Fiorentino (Uxbridge, Mass.) threw 6.1 innings and recorded four strikeouts in his eighth start of the spring. Xavier Faria (Assonet, Mass.) fanned one batter as he worked two-thirds of an inning in his seventh appearance of the season.

In the nightcap, Eastern Nazarene absorbed a 1-0 loss to Curry in a pitchers' duel. Brent Houle (Westfield, Mass.) pitched his fourth complete game of the season and struck out four while scattering four hits and one run. The Colonels' David Griffin tossed a two-hit shutout and fanned six.

The guests broke the scoreless tie in the top of the sixth inning, chalking up one run to capture a 1-0 lead. McLean hooked a double down the left field line to drive in Jack Kallinich from first base.

In the bottom of the seventh, Anthony Esposito (Mount Royal, N.J.) broke up the no-hit bid with a lead-off single to centerfield and Nick Story (Gilbert, Ariz.) followed with a one-out base knock to advance the tying run into scoring position and put the game-winning run on base. The Lions stranded both runners as Curry escaped with a 1-0 win.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene hits the road April 25 for an out-of-conference tilt at Tufts, who is receiving votes in the D3Baseball.com/NCBWA National Poll.