Baseball Grinds Past York (Pa.), 5-4

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.- The Eastern Nazarene College baseball team earned a gritty 5-4 victory over York (Pa.) Wednesday at the Ripken Experience.

The Lions improve to 5-3 on the season with the win while the Spartans fall to 2-4 overall with the result.

Hunter Leroux-Porter (Greenland, N.H.) paced the squad with two hits, one RBI, and one run scored. Steven Pesce (Harrison, N.Y.) registered a pair of base knocks and scored one run. Brandon Guerrero (Boston, Mass.) and Juan Jacobo Lopez (San Diego, Calif.) both notched one hit, one RBI, and one run scored.

York grabbed a 1-0 edge with a run in the top of the first inning. Austin Denlinger led off the game with a solo homer.

Eastern Nazarene leveled the contest at 1-1 with a run in the bottom of the fourth. Pesce motored home from third base on an RBI groundout by Leroux-Porter.

The Spartans scored once in the fifth to reclaim a one-run lead, 2-1. Joe Capobianco sent a single up the middle to drive in Jimmy Wiegers.

York tacked on two runs in the sixth inning to widen the gap to 4-1. Luke Turner belted a two-run home run to left-centerfield to plate Brandon White.

The Lions clawed back with a four-run frame in the seventh to seize a 5-4 advantage. Jacobo Lopez roped a double to center to knock in Leroux-Porter. Guerrero followed with an RBI base hit to score Andres Medina (Wesley Chapel, Fla.).  Jacobo Lopez tagged up and scampered home as Bobby Fulkerson (Anaheim, Calif.) lifted a sacrifice fly to right field before Guerrero crossed the dish as Louviaux swiped second base.

Morgan Weast (Cincinnati, Ohio) pitched a career-long 8.2 innings and racked up a career-high eight strikeouts in his first start of the spring. Daniel Rivera (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) fanned the only batter he faced to shut the door and pick up his second save of the year in his second relief outing.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene will square off against Hilbert in a doubleheader March 6.