Baseball Falters at Rivier in Tuesday Night Tilt

NASHUA, N.H.- The Eastern Nazarene College baseball team suffered a 12-8 setback to Rivier Tuesday evening in non-league action at Holman Stadium.

The Lions slide to 15-14 overall while the Raiders improve to 9-20 on the year.

Kurt Picarelli (Montrose, N.Y.) and Zach Zaino (Bourne, Mass.) each finished with three base knocks and one run scored in the contest. Jeremy Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.) collected two hits, two runs scored and one RBI. Zachary Carmody (Babylon, N.Y.) recorded two hits, two RBIs, one stolen base and one run scored while Colton Rice (Mesa, Ariz.) added two base knocks, a stolen base and one RBI.

The visitors claimed a 1-0 advantage in the first inning. Jeremy Wagner scurried home from third as Carmody attempted to steal second base.

Eastern Nazarene doubled its lead to 2-0 with a run in the top of the second. Jeremy Wagner laced a two-out single up the middle to drive in Joe Commesso (Marshfield, Mass.) from second base.

Rivier manufactured seven runs in the home half of the frame to establish a 7-2 lead. Ty Seaton, Jeremy Ball, Taylor Black and Drew Neely all posted RBI base hits in the inning.

The Lions cut the deficit to 7-4 with a pair of runs in the fourth. With the bases loaded, Andrew Santora (Middle Village, N.Y.) roped a single to the gap in right-center to plate Picarelli and Cameron Fiorentino (Uxbridge, Mass.) drew a bases-loaded walk to score Commesso.

The Raiders pushed their lead to 8-4 after scoring once in the bottom of the fourth. Black picked up his fourth RBI of the game with a single to left to drive in Tyler Ferdinand.

The hosts tacked on a run in the fifth to widen the gap to 9-4. Ferdinand scored for the third time in the game as Brandon Thibault tripled down the line in right.

Eastern Nazarene narrowed the margin to 9-8 in the sixth, producing four runs. After the first three batters of the inning reached base, Carmody landed a single in centerfield to plate Santora and Zaino. Jeremy Wagner motored home on a wild pitch before Rice raked a single to center to plate Carmody from third.

Rivier capped off the scoring with a three-run frame in the seventh, 12-8. Seaton scored on a failed pickoff attempt before Thibault and Black tallied RBI hits.

Rob Dukes (Spencer, Mass.) started on the hill and threw 1.2 innings. Brandon Imonti (Tewksbury, Mass.) hurled two innings of relief and registered one strikeout. Connor Simpson (Haverhill, Mass.) struck out one batter in 3.1 innings of relief. Brandon Wynne (West Haven, Conn.) pitched one shutout inning of relief.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene returns home April 20 to take on Lesley for the second time in less than a week.