Baseball Splits Twinbill Against Elizabethtown Thursday

FORT PIERCE, Fla.- The Eastern Nazarene College baseball traded wins with Elizabethtown Thursday afternoon, prevailing 2-1 in the opening contest before enduring a 9-3 setback in game two.

The Lions reach 3-2 on the season with the doubleheader split. The Bluejays, who are receiving votes in the D3Baseball.com National Poll, move to 7-3 overall.

Andrew Santora (Middle Village, N.Y.) paced the club with three base knocks and one run scored on the day. Connor Simpson (Haverhill, Mass.) finished with a pair of hits, two runs scored, and a stolen base. Dylan Louviaux (Mohnton, Pa.) chipped in with two hits and scored once while Zachary Carmody (Babylon, N.Y.) added a base knock, one RBI, and a run scored.

In game one, Eastern Nazarene rallied from a one-run deficit to post its third win of the spring.

Elizabethtown claimed a 1-0 edge in the bottom of the third inning. James Kantner singled to left field to drive in Nick Bein from third base.

Eastern Nazarene leveled the score at 1-1 in the top of the fifth as Simpson sprinted home from third after an error to score his sixth run of the year.

The Lions captured a 2-1 advantage in the top of the sixth inning. Steven Pesce (Harrison, N.Y.) roped a triple to right field to plate Carmody all the way from first base for the go-ahead run.

Alex Way (Syracuse, N.Y.) pitched a complete game and finished with four strikeouts while allowing just three hits and one walk in his first start of the season on the mound.

In the series finale, Elizabethtown exploded for three runs in the top of the second inning to establish a 3-0 advantage. Mike Christy scored from second base on a double to left by Andrew Coleman. Riley McGinley followed with a single to left field to drive in Brian Portillo and Coleman.

The Bluejays tacked on a pair of runs in the third to widen the gap to 5-0. Nick Lorenz and Portillo crossed the dish after McGinley sent a single back up the middle.

Eastern Nazarene got on the board in the bottom of the fourth to trim the gap to 5-1. Simpson scored his team-leading seventh run of the season on miscue in the outfield after Matthew Urena (Flushing, N.Y.) poked a two-out single to right.

Elizabethtown responded with two runs in the top of the fifth frame to expand its lead to 7-1. Coleman plated Portillo and Christy as he rolled a single to right.

The Lions battled back to tally twice in the bottom of the fifth and narrow the gap to 7-3. Santora scurried home as Carmody reached on an error. Louviaux tagged up from third and scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Devin Haberstumpf (Forest Hills, N.Y.).

The Bluejays produced a pair of runs in the sixth to regain a six-run advantage, 9-3. Colby Smith crossed the dish on a double by Lorenz before Portillo drove in Christy with a sacrifice fly.

Ben Petersen (Manchester, Conn.) tossed two innings in his third career start. Daniel Rivera (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) logged one inning of relief in his second appearance of the spring out of the bullpen. Pesce worked 2.1 frames in his first pitching outing of the year and recorded one strikeout. Haberstumpf hurled 1.2 innings as he toed the rubber for the first time this season.

Looking ahead, Eastern Nazarene returns to the diamond March 11 for a two-game series against Bethany (W.V.).