Baseball Absorbs Two Losses to Western New England

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College baseball team suffered a pair of setbacks to Western New England Friday at Adams Field, falling 2-0 and 12-5.

The Lions drop to 11-20-2 on the season and 2-12 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference with the losses. The Golden Bears improve to 21-13 overall and 10-6 in league play with the wins.

Steven Pesce (Harrison, N.Y.) finished with a team-best three hits, two RBIs, and one run scored in the doubleheader. Josue Basilis (Bronx, N.Y.) chipped in with one base knock, one RBI, and one run. Connor Simpson (Haverhill, Mass.) and Matthew Urena (Flushing, N.Y.) both landed a pair of hits and crossed the dish once in the series. Zachary Carmody (Babylon, N.Y.) and Devin Haberstumpf (Forest Hills, N.Y.) notched one hit and one RBI each.

In game one, the visitors eked out a 2-0 victory after outhitting the home side 7-3.

Western New England pushed across one run in the top of the third inning to snag a 1-0 edge. Ben LaCroix singled to center to drive in Erik Lacaire.

The Golden Bears doubled their advantage to 2-0 in the sixth as Jared Rosenblatt crossed the dish on a two-out single by Joe Cassella.

Xavier Faria (Assonet, Mass.) threw 5.2 innings and finished with one strikeout in his third start of the season. Haberstumpf tossed 1.1 relief innings in his fifth outing of the spring.

In the nightcap, Western New England rattled off a 12-5 win after collecting a dozen hits.

The guests grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Daniel Morin scored from second base on a double off the bat of LaCroix.

Eastern Nazarene knotted the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the first. Simpson scored his team-leading 27th run of the spring as Haberstumpf rolled a grounder to the shortstop.

The Golden Bears reclaimed the lead with one run in the second, 2-1. Morin laced a single through the left side of the infield to knock in Lacaire.

Western New England tacked on four runs in the fourth inning to widen the gap to 6-1. Lacaire singled up the middle to plate Cassella from third base. Kevin Johnson motored home as Alex Loparco reached first base on a dropped third strike. After a pair of outs, Rosenblatt drove in Johnson and Loparco with a base knock to left.

The visitors added a pair of runs in the fifth to extend their lead to 8-1. Cassella registered his second RBI of the game with a single to center to score Brian Valeriano. Cassella came around to cross the dish as Loparco reached on an error.

The Golden Bears chalked up two runs in the sixth to stretch their advantage to 10-1. Cassella picked up an RBI as he reached on a fielder's choice that drove in Rosenblatt before Jamie Schofield scampered home on a wild pitch.

The Lions manufactured four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to trim the deficit to 10-5. Basilis roped a double down the right field line to plate Urena. Pesce followed with a double to the gap in left-center to drive in James Coury (Milford, Conn.) and Basilis before scoring on a groundout by Carmody.

Western New England tallied two runs in the seventh to take a 12-5 lead. Morin belted a two-run homer to left field to drive in Loparco.

Ragan Cole (Alamogordo, N.M.) hurled five innings in his sixth start of the year and recorded one strikeout. Briley Seiter (Bellevue, Ky.) pitched two innings in his second appearance out of the bullpen and fanned two batters.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene wraps up the season April 29 at home against Gordon on Senior Day.