Baseball Notches Two Wins in Home Opener, Sweeps Emerson

QUINCY, Mass. – The Eastern Nazarene baseball team rallied late to cap off a doubleheader sweep of Emerson Tuesday at Adams Field. The Lions posted wins of 6-1 and 5-4 to improve to 4-8 on the season. The visiting Lions slid to 0-11 on the year with the losses.

Anthony Berroa (Teaneck, N.J.) led Eastern Nazarene offensively with four hits, three RBIs and three runs scored. Jake Koch (Dayton, Nev.) chipped in with four hits while driving in one RBI. Ryan Garza (Elsa, Texas) collected three hits on the day and recorded a pair of RBIs. Brad Hampton (South Daytona, Fla.) landed three base knocks and added two runs and an RBI while Jeremy Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.) racked up three hits and crossed the plate once in the two-game set.

In game one, the visitors seized an early 1-0 advantage as Johnny Hasney scored in the top of the first frame on a single by Cal Ciarcia to left.

Eastern Nazarene knotted the score at 1-1 in the home half of the first. Michael Chiaradio Jr. (Teaneck, N.J.) laced a single to left to lead off the inning and advanced to second on a groundout by E.J. Estrada (Alpharetta, Ga.). Berroa drove in Chiaradio from second as he singled back up the middle.

The Lions captured a 2-1 edge in the bottom of the third on an RBI single by Garza to plate Berroa from third.

The hosts widened the gap to 5-1 with a three-run fifth inning. Hampton, Manning and Koch all collected RBI singles with two outs in the frame.

Eastern Nazarene tacked on its sixth run of the contest in the home half of the sixth. After Berroa reached on an error, Max Pugh (San Diego, Calif.) raked a double to centerfield to allow Berroa to motor home from first.

Matt Jayne tossed a complete game in his second game of the season. The senior fanned five batters while allowing just four hits and two walks.

In the nightcap, the home side jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Berroa singled to drive in Chiaradio from second to open the scoring. Garza doubled the Lions' advantage with an RBI single to center to score Estrada.

Emerson responded with four runs in the second to claim a 4-2 edge. Kolby Woodfield drove in Jesse Francese from second with a double and later scored on a throwing error. Malcolm Kelner gave the visitors their first lead of the day as he trotted home on a groundout by Conor McDonough. James Sullivan scored the Lions fourth run of the inning as he crossed the plate on an error.

Eastern Nazarene cut the deficit in half, tallying a run in the sixth. Hampton scampered home from third on a groundout by Manning to pull the Lions to within one, 4-3.

The Lions rallied in the bottom of the seventh, plating a pair of runs to salvage the two-game sweep. Jeremy Wagner led off the frame with a single to right-center and stole second before advancing to third on a groundout by Estrada. Berroa drove in Wagner from third with a single to left to tie the game at 4-4.

Berroa stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. He crossed the plate safely with the walk-off run as the 2-2 delivery to Pugh bounced by the catcher and rolled to backstop.

Nathan Russell (San Diego, Calif.) logged three innings on the mound in his first start of the spring while allowing five hits and striking out one batter. Reese Richmond (Villa Rica, Ga.) pitched four scoreless innings on the hill to close out the contest, scattering just two hits while registering three strikeouts.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene will square off against Lasell in a single non-conference tilt March 27 at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass.