Baseball Rallies Late to Earn 9-9 Tie at Lesley

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College baseball team erased a four-run deficit in the top of the ninth inning en route to picking up its second-consecutive draw with a 9-9 tie in 11-innings at Lesley Thursday evening.

The Lions move to 10-14-2 on the season while the Lynx progress to 15-11-1 overall with the draw.

Steven Pesce (Harrison, N.Y.) ran his hitting-streak to nine games with four base knocks and one run scored on the night. Zach Zaino (Falmouth, Mass.) posted three hits, two RBIs, and one stolen base. Andrew Santora (Middle Village, N.Y.) chipped in with a pair of hits, two RBIs, and a stolen base. Dylan Louviaux (Mohnton, Pa.) finished with two hits, two runs scored, and a stolen base while Zachary Carmody (Babylon, N.Y.) added two base knocks and one run.

The home team got on the board with a run in the bottom of the first inning to snag a 1-0 edge. JP Agiorgousis singled to center to knock in Mike Slaby from second base.

The visitors pushed a pair of runs across in the top of the second to jump ahead 2-1. Carmody crossed the dish as Louviaux swiped second. Louviaux came around to score on a wild pitch.

Lesley leveled the game at 2-2 with a run in the bottom of the second frame. Nicholas Ferragine motored home as Slaby reached on a fielding error.

Eastern Nazarene tallied a run in the third to regain a one-run lead, 3-2. Santora raked a one-out single to right field to plate Connor Simpson (Haverhill, Mass.).

The Lions doubled their advantage to 4-2 with a run in the fourth inning. Louviaux scored his second run of the game on an RBI base knock to left off the bat of Zaino.

The Lynx generated four runs in the fifth to reclaim the lead, 6-4. Jacob Cervantes, Riley Golden, Ryan Pumphret, and Agiorgousis all crossed the plate in the inning.

The guests answered with a run to cut the deficit in the sixth to 6-5. Zaino picked up his second RBI of the night with a single to left field to drive in Matthew Urena (Flushing, N.Y.) from second base.

Lesley restored its lead to two runs with one tally in the home half of the sixth, 7-5, as Justin Clark scored on an error.

The hosts tacked on a run in the seventh to push the margin to 8-5. Vincent Talerico singled to left to knock in Ferragine.

The Lynx added a score in the eighth inning to widen the gap to 9-5. Agiorgousis scurried home as Cervantes got hung up in a run-down between first and second.

Eastern Nazarene rallied for four runs in the top of the ninth to pull even at 9-9. Nick Story (Gilbert, Ariz.) tagged up and scored on a sacrifice fly to left by Santora. Devin Haberstumpf (Forest Hills, N.Y.) followed with a two-run double to right field that brought in Pesce and Simpson. James Coury (Milford, Conn.) scored the game-tying run with two outs in the inning as Urena reached on an error.

Ryan Spina (Selden, N.Y.) tossed 4.2 innings in his first start of the season and fanned four batters. Cameron Fiorentino (Uxbridge, Mass.) worked 1.2 innings and recorded two strikeouts in his second appearance out of the bullpen this spring. Alex Way (Syracuse, N.Y.) pitched 4.2 innings and racked up seven strikeouts in his second relief outing of the year.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene is slated to return home to battle Wentworth in a key conference doubleheader April 21.