Baseball Edged Twice at Fisher Tuesday

LYNN, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College baseball team suffered a pair of one-run, walk-off losses at Fisher Tuesday evening at Fraser Field, falling 11-10 and 9-8.

The Lions slide to 10-9 overall with the results while the Falcons improve to 27-10 on the year.

Steven Pesce (Harrison, N.Y.) paced the squad with five hits, five RBIs, two runs scored, and one stolen base on the night. Anthony Esposito (Mount Royal, N.J.) finished with five runs scored, three base knocks, one RBI, and a pair of stolen bases. Josue Basilis (Bronx, N.Y.) notched three hits, three stolen bases, and one run scored in the doubleheader. Zachary Carmody (Babylon, N.Y.) registered three hits, three RBIs, and one run while Connor Simpson (Haverhill, Mass.) posted a pair of hits, three runs, two RBIs, and three stolen bags.              

In game one, Fisher rallied from a 7-0 deficit to claim an 11-10 walk-off victory.

The visitors produced three runs in the top of the first inning to establish an early 3-0 advantage. Carmody singled to drive in Simpson while Esposito and Carmody both scored on an error on the play.

Eastern Nazarene chalked up a pair of runs in the second to widen the gap to 5-0. Pesce roped a double to centerfield to knock in Esposito and James Coury (Milford, Conn.).

The Lions added two runs in the fourth to extend their lead to 7-0. Esposito crossed the dish on an error before Carmody laced a triple to the gap in left-centerfield to score Pesce.

The home side got on the board in the fifth, scoring twice to cut the deficit to 7-2. Ismael Perez singled to drive in Cameron Pearson. Joshua Rogers tagged up and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jorge Sanchez.

Eastern Nazarene responded with two runs in the top of the sixth inning to reclaim a seven-run advantage, 9-2. Pesce raked a single to left to plate Simpson from third base. Esposito scurried home on a groundout by Carmody.

Fisher exploded for six runs in the home half of the sixth to narrow the margin to 9-8. John Batista, Jacob Deziel, Mitchell Lundholm, Perez, and Sanchez all registered RBI base knocks.

The Lions tallied a run in the seventh to double their lead to 10-8. Basilis scored from third base as Simpson reached on an error.

The Falcons leveled the contest at 10-10 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh frame. Rogers drove in Batista with a groundout. Deziel knocked in the tying-run with a double to left to score Pearson.

Fisher plated the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning. Reynaldo Vega scored the game-winning run on an infield-hit by Ivan Rivera.

Briley Seiter (Bellevue, Ky.) tossed 5.2 innings and posted one strikeout in his fourth start of the year. Tommy Merrick (Brockton, Mass.) hurled 1.1 innings in his team-leading sixth appearance out of the bullpen. Ryan Spina (Lake Grove, N.Y.) worked 1.2 innings in his third relief outing.

In the nightcap, Fisher extended its winning-streak to 12 games with a 9-8 come-from-behind victory.

The hosts jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a run in the bottom of the first frame. Sanchez tagged up and dashed home on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Lundholm.

The Falcons manufactured three runs in the second to expand their advantage to 4-0. Deziel slapped a one-out triple to left field to drive in Braxten Ramirez and Reynaldo Mejia.

Fisher tacked on three runs in the fourth to stretch the margin to 7-0. Lundholm singled to right to plate Rivera and Sanchez before crossing the dish as Batista reached on an error.

The guests got on the board with four runs in the top of the fifth, slicing the deficit to 7-4. With the bases full, Esposito scorched a single to knock in Dylan Louviaux (Mohnton, Pa.) from third. Anthony Castrogiovanni (Bohemia, N.Y.) scored his first run of the season as he scurried home from third base on a wild pitch. Pesce followed with a single to drive in Simpson before Carmody landed a two-out single to score Pesce.

The Lions clawed back to seize an 8-7 edge with four runs in the sixth. Will Francis (Midlothian, Va.) scampered home from third on a wild pitch and Simpson smacked a double to left-centerfield to plate Louviaux and Castrogiovanni to knot the score. Pesce roped a two-out base hit to centerfield to drive in Esposito for the go-ahead score.

The Falcons orchestrated a ninth-inning comeback in the bottom of the frame to pick up their second walk-off win of the night. Pearson crossed the dish with the equalizer as Sanchez reached on an error before Lundholm singled to center to score Deziel for the winning-run.

Morgan Weast (Cincinnati, Ohio) pitched four innings and fanned two in his third start of the spring. Daniel Rivera (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) threw two innings of relief and racked up five strikeouts in his sixth appearance of the year. Hunter Authier (Westfield, Mass.) tossed two innings in his second appearance of the season.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene returns home to host Curry April 3.