Baseball Absorbs 8-5 Loss to Lesley

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College baseball team suffered an 8-5 setback to Lesley Friday evening under the lights at Adams Field.

The Lions drop to 14-11 on the year with the outcome while the Lynx improve to 19-5 overall.

Connor Simpson (Haverhill, Mass.) and Matthew Urena (Flushing, N.Y.) both notched two hits, one RBI, and one run scored in the game. Zachary Carmody (Babylon, N.Y.) and Steven Pesce (Harrison, N.Y.) each finished with two base knocks and one run. Zach Zaino (Falmouth, Mass.) registered a pair of RBIs on one hit while Anthony Esposito (Mount Royal, N.J.) chipped in with two hits.

The guests generated six runs to grab a 6-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Nicholas Ferragine doubled to centerfield to drive in Jacob Cervantes and J.P. Agiorgousis. Ferragine came around to score on an infield hit by Steven DePalma.

Eastern Nazarene got on the board in the home half of the second, scoring once to cut the deficit to 6-1. Urena raked a double to right-centerfield to plate Pesce from third base.

Lesley tacked on a run in the fifth to widen the gap to 7-1. Vincent Taliercio lifted a sacrifice fly to right to score Justin Clark from third.

The Lions knocked in three runs to trim the margin to 7-4 in the bottom of the fifth inning. Zaino scorched a single up the middle to drive in Joshua Bombard (Rutland, Mass.) and Simpson. Carmody crossed the dish on a groundout by Dylan Louviaux (Mohnton, Pa.).

The visitors chalked up one run in the sixth to extend their lead to 8-4 as Will Rhone belted a solo home run to left field.

The hosts pulled to within three with a run in the eighth inning, 8-5. Simpson roped a double to the gap in right-center to knock in Urena.

Brandon Imonti (Tewksbury, Mass.) tossed two innings in his first start of the season on the mound and recorded three strikeouts. Rob Dukes (Spencer, Mass.) pitched 2.1 innings in his first outing of the year and fanned a pair of batters. Tommy Merrick (Brockton, Mass.) hurled 3.2 innings in his fourth appearance out of the bullpen and struck out three. Devin Haberstumpf (Forest Hills, N.Y.) pitched a perfect frame in the ninth and rattled off two strikeouts.

Looking ahead, Eastern Nazarene returns to conference play April 14 at Salve Regina.