Baseball Caps Off Regular Season with Split Against Southern Vermont

NORTHBOROUGH, Mass.- With its first postseason berth since 2010 already in hand, the Eastern Nazarene College baseball team traded wins with Southern Vermont Monday at the New England Baseball Complex to secure an NECC Tournament first-round home game. The Mountaineers eked out a 4-3 win before the Lions clawed back to prevail 5-1.

The Lions finish the regular season with a 19-17 overall record along with an 8-8 mark in the NECC. The Mountaineers move to 14-16-1 on the year and 8-8 in league play with the outcomes.

Zachary Carmody (Babylon, N.Y.) posted three hits, three RBIs, and two runs scored on the afternoon. Steven Pesce (Harrison, N.Y.) landed a pair of base knocks and drove in one RBI while Connor Simpson (Haverhill, Mass.) registered one hit, two runs scored, and one stolen base. Josue Basilis (Bronx, N.Y.) and Dylan Louviaux (Mohnton, Pa.) both chipped in with one hit, one RBI, and one run scored in the series.

In the opening tilt, Southern Vermont clipped Eastern Nazarene 4-3.

The Mountaineers gained an early 1-0 edge with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Ryan Serrato singled up the middle to drive in Zack Stacey from second base.

The Lions got on the board in the top of the third to even the contest at 1-1. Simpson scurried home from third base on a groundout by Anthony Esposito (Mount Royal, N.J.).

Eastern Nazarene captured a 3-1 advantage in the sixth with a pair of tallies. Carmody launched his team-leading fourth home run of the season to score Simpson.

Southern Vermont answered with a pair of homers to seize a 4-3 lead in the home half of the sixth frame. After a solo shot by Kyle Liddy to lead off the inning, Brandon Lara-Mack belted a two-run blast to knock in Nick Guarjado.

Brenndan Rogers (Hanson, Mass.) pitched 5.1 innings in his eighth start on the hill and finished with three strikeouts. Briley Seiter (Bellevue, Ky.) worked two-thirds of an inning in his first relief outing of the spring and fanned both batters he faced.

In game two, Eastern Nazarene slugged two home runs en route to earning a 5-1 victory.

The Lions manufactured one run in the top of the third to snag a 1-0 lead. Pesce roped a double off the left-field fence to plate Matthew Urena (Flushing, N.Y.).

Eastern Nazarene scored three in the fourth to widen the margin to 4-0. Basilis clobbered a lead-off solo shot for his first collegiate home run. Louviaux slapped a triple to the gap in right-centerfield to drive in Joshua Bombard (Rutland, Mass.) all the way from first base before Urena lifted a sacrifice fly to score Louviaux.

The Lions chalked up a run in the fifth to extend their advantage to 5-0 as Carmody crushed his second home run of the day and fifth of the year.

The Mountaineers got on the board in the fifth to trim the deficit to 5-1. Serrato crossed the dish on a groundout by Lara-Mack.

Brandon Imonti (Tewksbury, Mass.) tossed five innings and notched two strikeouts in his fourth start of the year. Morgan Weast (Cincinatti, Ohio) hurled two scoreless frames and struck out two in his sixth appearance out of the bullpen.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene will host Southern Vermont in the NECC Tournament first round April 30.