Baseball Fends Off Salem State, 6-5

SALEM, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College baseball team edged Salem State 6-5 Tuesday afternoon.

The Lions improve to 14-13 on the season with the win while the Vikings sink to 11-10 overall.

Steven Pesce (Harrison, N.Y.) racked up four base hits, four RBIs, and two runs scored. Jaime Roldan (Boston, Mass.) posted two hits and two RBIs. Frank Landeiro (Orlando, Fla.) finished with one hit and two runs scored while Tyler Bean (Wellington, Fla.) added one base knock and one run scored.

The visitors scored a pair of runs in the top of the first inning to capture an early 2-0 lead. Pesce roped a double to left field to drive in Bean and Landeiro.

The home side responded with four runs in the bottom of the first to claim a 4-2 edge. Zachary Piroh singled to left field to plate Christian Burt. Brahiam  Ortega scampered home from third base on a wild pitch. Jake Boucher and Piroh both crossed the dish as Derek Angell reached on an error.

Eastern Nazarene tallied three runs in the third to snag a 5-4 advantage. Pesce belted his team-leading fifth homer of the year, a two-run blast to score Landeiro. Roldan laced a one-out double to right field to knock in Shane McNamara (Londonderry, N.H.) from second base.

The Lions doubled their lead to 6-4 with a run in the fifth. Roldan scorched a base knock to left field to drive in Pesce.

Salem State chalked up one run in the home half of the seventh inning to narrow the deficit to 6-5. Angell tagged up and motored home on a sacrifice fly by Burt.

Senior Morgan Weast (Cincinnati, Ohio) tossed his first complete game of the spring and finished with a career-high 11 strikeouts while scattering five hits and one earned run.

Looking ahead, Eastern Nazarene battles Curry April 13 on the road.