Fourth-Seeded Baseball Drops 6-1 Decision at No. 1 Seed Mitchell in NECC Tournament

NEW LONDON, Conn.- The fourth-seeded Eastern Nazarene College baseball team suffered a 6-1 setback at top-seeded Mitchell Thursday afternoon in the New England Collegiate Conference Tournament.

The Lions dip to 20-18 on the year with the loss and will take on Lesley in an NECC Tournament elimination game Saturday, May 4 at Mitchell's Alumni Field. The regionally-ranked Mariners improve to 33-6 overall and advance to face New England College for a spot in the NECC Tournament championship series.

Connor Simpson (Haverhill, Mass.) led the visitors with one hit, one RBI, and one run. Steven Pesce (Harrison, N.Y.), Josue Basilis (Bronx, N.Y.), Joshua Bombard (Rutland, Mass.), Dylan Louviaux (Mohnton, Pa.), and James Coury (Milford, Conn.) all recorded one hit on the day.

Eastern Nazarene quickly seized a 1-0 lead as Simpson led off the game with his second home run of the spring.

Mitchell responded with a run in the bottom of the first inning to level the score at 1-1 as Markus Melendez belted a solo home run.

The Mariners produced four runs in the fifth to claim a 5-1 advantage. With the bases loaded, Steve Cochrane doubled to left to drive in Eric Marriott, Justin Johnson, and Melendez. Cochrane crossed the dish as Steven Pagan reached on a fielder's choice.

The hosts tacked on a run in the seventh to widen the gap to 6-1. Dougie DelaCruz scored on an RBI groundout off the bat of Sam Majewski.

Briley Seiter (Bellevue, Ky.) hurled four innings in his ninth start on the mound and finished with two strikeouts. Brenndan Rogers (Hanson, Mass.) tossed one inning of relief and fanned one in his third appearance out of the bullpen. Morgan Weast (Cincinnati, Ohio) pitched two frames and struck out three in his 10th game of the season. Daniel Rivera (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) threw one inning and registered two strikeouts in his team-leading 15th appearance.