Baseball Splits Opening NAC Series with SUNY Poly

WATERTOWN, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College softball team prevailed 5-0 before dropping a 5-4 decision to SUNY Poly Friday afternoon at Victory Field in the first North Atlantic Conference contests of the season. With the victory in the series-opener, head coach Josue Basilis collected his first career win.

GAME ONE
THE BASICS:
Score: Eastern Nazarene 5, SUNY Poly 0
Records: Lions (1-7, 1-0 NAC) | Wildcats (5-2, 0-1 NAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Eastern Nazarene produced all five runs in the bottom of the third inning. Francis Ferguson (Jefferson, Mass.) roped a single to left field to drive in Michael Monteforte (Wilmington, Mass.). Anderson Jimenez (Lowell, Mass.) followed with a double to score Elvis Rojas (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) and Frank Landeiro (Orlando, Fla.). Eduardo Labour (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) laced a double to centerfield to plate Francis Ferguson (Jefferson, Mass.) and Anderson Jimenez (Lowell, Mass.).

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• Anderson Jimenez (Lowell, Mass.) posted two RBIs, one base hit, and one run scored.
• Eduardo Labour (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) finished with two RBIs and a hit.
• Francis Ferguson (Jefferson, Mass.) tallied one hit, one RBI, and a run scored.
• Elvis Rojas (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) added one base knock, one run scored, and one stolen base.
• Francis Ferguson (Jefferson, Mass.) pitched a complete-game shutout in his third start on the bump and recorded 12 strikeouts while yielding three hits.

GAME TWO
THE BASICS:
Score: Eastern Nazarene 4, SUNY Poly 5
Records: Lions (1-8, 1-1 NAC) | Wildcats (6-2, 1-1 NAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• SUNY Poly posted four runs in the top of the first inning to construct a 4-0 lead.
• The Wildcats added a run in the second to widen the margin to 5-0.
• Eastern Nazarene got on the board in the bottom of the fourth, scoring a run to cut the deficit to 5-1. Frank Landeiro (Orlando, Fla.) tagged up and motored home from third base on a sacrifice fly by Anderson Jimenez (Lowell, Mass.).
• The Lions tallied two runs in the fifth to trim the gap to 5-3. Elvis Rojas (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) laced a two-out single to right field to drive in O'Neil Jimenez (Lowell, Mass.) and Andiover Feliz (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic).
• Eastern Nazarene picked up a run in the home half of the sixth inning to pull to within one, 5-4. Eduardo Labour (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) roped a base hit to centerfield to knock in Francis Ferguson (Jefferson, Mass.) from second base.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• Frank Landeiro (Orlando, Fla.) finished with two hits, one run scored, and a stolen base.
• Elvis Rojas (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) notched two RBIs and one base hit.
• Andiover Feliz (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) and Eduardo Labour (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) both recorded one hit and one run scored.
• Colby Rohr (Highland Village, Texas) started on the mound and tossed one inning while striking out one batter. Liam Bruskewicz (Granite Springs, N.Y.) worked six innings of relief and chalked up a pair of strikeouts.

LOOKING AHEAD:
Eastern Nazarene wraps up the weekend series against SUNY Poly March 16.