Baseball’s Game Versus St. Joseph’s Halted

WEYMOUTH, Mass.- Playing its first home game in 691 days, the Eastern Nazarene College baseball team had its contest versus St. Joseph's (Maine) halted after eight innings Wednesday.

The Lions trailed the Monks 11-7 through eight frames of action.

The visitors plated a pair of runs in the top of the first inning to establish an early 2-0 lead. Ben Gravel laced a bases-loaded single up the middle to knock in Drew Healey and Dylan Fournier.

St. Joseph's tacked on three runs in the third to widen the gap to 5-0. Matthew Martinello crossed the dish on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Mattingly Simaan. Kevin Aylward singled to left field to drive in Simaan from third base before Justin Juliano singled to score Luke Johnson from third base.

The Monks added a run in the fourth to extend their advantage to 6-0. Fournier tagged up and scampered home from third as Martinello hoisted a sacrifice fly to right field.

The guests chalked up three runs in the fifth to stretch their lead to 9-0. Johnson scurried home on a wild pitch before Juliano scored on a groundout by Fournier. Healey followed with an RBI single to plate Hunter Richardson.

Eastern Nazarene got on the board in the bottom of the fifth, generating six runs to cut the deficit to 9-6. After the Lions drew three walks to load the bases, Shane McNamara (Londonderry, N.H.) raked a two-run single to drive in Jaime Roldan (Boston, Mass.) and Francis Ferguson (Jefferson, Mass.). Jamie Carey (Amherst, Mass.) and McNamara both scored on wild pitches before Roldan drew a bases-loaded walk to plate Mike Griffin (Hudson, N.H.) and Joshua Bombard (Rutland, Mass.) absorbed a hit-by-pitch with the bases full to score Steven Pesce (Harrison, N.Y.).

The Lions pulled to within two after plating one run in the sixth, 9-7. Roldan flared a single to right field to knock in Griffin and pick up his second RBI of the game.

The visitors produced two runs in the top of the eighth to take an 11-7 lead. Gravel scored as Aylward tripled to centerfield before crossing the plate on a wild pitch later in the inning.

Ferguson threw four innings in his second start of the spring and fanned three batters. Jon Tessier (Coronado, Calif.) pitched two innings of relief and struck out three. Morgan Weast (Cincinnati, Ohio) hurled one scoreless frame and recorded two strikeouts. Brenndan Rogers (Hanson, Mass.) worked one inning out of the bullpen.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene will host St. Joseph's (Maine) March 13 in a non-league doubleheader at Libby Field in Weymouth, Mass.