Baseball Tops Becker 12-4 in Inter-Conference Clash

ROCHDALE, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College baseball team earned its third-consecutive win, defeating Becker 12-4 Thursday afternoon on the road.

The Lions improve to 8-13 on the season with the victory while the Hawks fall to 11-11 overall.

John Greenlee (San Marcos, Calif.) paced the club with three hits, two runs scored, and one RBI on the day. Andrew Santora (Middle Village, N.Y.) posted two base knocks, three runs scored, and one RBI. James Coury (Milford, Conn.) finished with a pair of hits, three RBIs, and crossed the dish once in the contest. Cameron Fiorentino (Uxbridge, Mass.) and Connor Simpson (Haverhill, Mass.) both chipped in with one hit, one run scored, one RBI, and a stolen base in the win.

The visitors chalked up three runs in the top of the first frame to build up a 3-0 lead. Simpson scored his team-leading 18th run of the spring as Devin Haberstumpf (Forest Hills, N.Y.) lifted a sacrifice fly to center. After Steven Pesce (Harrison, N.Y.) motored home on a wild pitch, Greenlee roped a double to left to drive in Santora.

Eastern Nazarene tacked on two runs in the second to widen the margin to 5-0. Simpson hoisted a sacrifice fly to left to plate Coury before Pesce raked a double to knock in Joshua Bombard (Rutland, Mass.) from second base.

The Lions produced three scores in the third to extend their advantage to 8-0. Fiorentino laced a single to center to drive in Zachary Carmody (Babylon, N.Y.) from third. Greenlee crossed the dish as Fiorentino swiped second base. Coury followed with an RBI single to left to score Fiorentino.

The guests tallied once in the fourth to push their lead to 9-0. Santora scampered home from third as Carmody grounded out to the first baseman to post his 13th RBI of the year.

Becker got on the board in the home half of the fourth inning to cut the deficit to 9-1. The Hawks plated one run in the fifth and sixth to narrow the gap to 9-3.

Eastern Nazarene pushed across a pair of runs in the seventh to stretch its lead to 11-3. With two runners in scoring position, Coury raked a one-out double to center to drive in Nick Story (Gilbert, Ariz.) and Greenlee.

The Lions added a run in the eighth to reclaim a nine-run advantage, 12-3, as Santora launched his first career home run to right field.

The home team picked up a run in the bottom of the ninth as Kevin Perez singled to right to plate Daniel Diaz.

Alex Way (Syracuse, N.Y.) hurled seven innings and notched four strikeouts in his fifth start of the season to improve to 4-1 on the mound. Xavier Faria (Assonet, Mass.) worked two innings of relief and fanned three in his sixth outing of the year.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene returns home to host a non-conference doubleheader against the University of Maine-Presque Isle April 15.