Baseball Staves Off Newbury, 8-6, in Non-Conference Tilt

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College baseball team knocked off Newbury 8-6 in non-league action Tuesday afternoon at Adams Field.

The Lions improve to 7-13 on the season with the win while the Nighthawks flutter to 16-13 overall.

Steven Pesce (Harrison, N.Y.) paced the club with three hits, four RBIs, one run scored, and a stolen base. Andrew Santora (Middle Village, N.Y.) chipped in with two base knocks and one RBI. John Greenlee (San Marcos, Calif.) and Connor Simpson (Haverhill, Mass.) both crossed the dish twice and landed one hit.

The visitors got on the board in the top of the first to claim a narrow 1-0 edge. David Center motored home all the way from first base as Matthew Peluso hooked a single down the right field line.

The hosts leveled the contest at 1-1 in the bottom of the first inning. Pesce laced a single to center to drive in Simpson from second.

Eastern Nazarene produced five runs in the second to grab a 6-1 lead. Greenlee scampered home as Dylan Louviaux (Mohnton, Pa.) swiped second base. Pesce roped a bases-clearing triple to centerfield to plate Joshua Bombard (Rutland, Mass.), Simpson, and Louviaux. Santora followed with a double to the gap in right-center to knock in Pesce.

The Lions tacked on a run in the fifth to widen the gap to 7-1. Louviaux crossed the dish for the second time on the day on a wild pitch.

The Nighthawks scored three times in the seventh to cut the deficit to 7-4. Matthew Sobray scored on a groundout by Peluso before Jim McGrorry singled to right to drive in Center. Ian Hruniak landed a two-out single in left to plate McGrorry from third.

Eastern Nazarene tallied a run in the home half of the seventh inning to push the margin to 8-4 as Bombard raked a single to centerfield to score Greenlee.

Newbury pushed across two runs in the ninth to pull to within two, 8-6. McGrorry and Hruniak both notched RBIs for the guests in the frame.

Cameron Fiorentino (Uxbridge, Mass.) tossed six innings and struck out three in his fourth start of the spring. Ragan Cole (Alamogordo, N.M.) threw three innings of relief and fanned three to pick up his first save of the year.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene travels to Becker April 13.