Baseball Splits with Illinois College on Opening Day

FORT MYERS, Fla.- The Eastern Nazarene baseball team split a doubleheader with Illinois College to open the 2013 season Saturday afternoon at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic. The Lions and Blueboys both move to 1-1 on the year with the results.

Eastern Nazarene prevailed in the opening game 5-0 before falling 2-1 in the nightcap.

Anthony Berroa (Teaneck, N.J.) paced Eastern Nazarene offensively with four hits, three runs and two stolen bases. Max Pugh (San Diego, Calif.), David Manning (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.), Ryan Garza (Elsa, Texas) and Jake Koch (Dayton, Nev.) all registered an RBI on the day for the Lions.

In game one, Eastern Nazarene tallied three runs in the first inning. With the bases loaded Manning drew a walk to force in the Lions' first run of the game as Brad Hampton (South Daytona, Fla.) trotted home. Michael Chiaradio Jr. (Teaneck, N.J.) scored on a wild pitch and Berroa came home on a passed ball with two outs.

Berroa led off the third with a single then stole second. Pugh followed with an RBI single to give Eastern Nazarene a 4-0 advantage.

The Lions tacked on a run in the fifth frame to grab a 5-0 lead. Berroa raked a lead-off single and swiped second base. With two away in the inning, Koch landed an RBI single to close out the scoring.

Brandon Wells (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) earned the victory after pitching 6.2 innings and striking out seven batters while allowing five hits. Jamie Dominick (Taunton, Mass.) closed out the game on the mound for the Lions, enducing a flyball to centerfield for the final out of the contest.

In the second game, the two teams headed into the sixth inning deadlocked at 0-0. Illinois College plated a pair in the bottom half of the frame to claim a 2-0 edge. Ben Heinemann collected a two-out triple and scored on a passed ball. Josh Krumweide drove in the Blueboys' second run with an RBI double to score Spencer Wilson.

In the top of the seventh, the Lions' first two batters reached base as Manning doubled and Koch followed with a single. Garza lifted a sacrifice fly to center to allow Manning to tag-up and score from third.

Hampton tossed a complete game in his collegiate pitching debut. The freshman southpaw fanned six batters on the day while scattering four hits and three walks.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene will face off against Newbury March 4 as it continues play at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic.