Baseball Absorbs Walk-Off Loss to Fisher in Season-Opening Clash, 6-5

NORTHBOROUGH, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College baseball team suffered a narrow 6-5 setback to Fisher Thursday evening at the New England Baseball Complex.

The Lions slip to 0-1 on the spring while the Falcons improve to 7-1 overall with the result.

Retsyn Ootton (Pawtucket, R.I.) notched two hits, two RBIs, and one run scored. Max Miednik (Parkland, Fla.) recorded a pair of base hits, stole two bases, and scored twice. Shane McNamara (Londonderry, N.H.) drove in two RBIs to go with one hit and one run scored. Jamie Carey (Amherst, Mass.) finished with two stolen bases, one base knock, and one run while Mike Griffin (Hudson, N.H.) added one hit.

Eastern Nazarene jumped out to a 2-0 advantage in the top of the first inning. After a leadoff double by Miednik, McNamara belted a two-run home run to right field to open the scoring.

Fisher got on the board in the home half of the first to cut the deficit to 2-1. Ivanuel Hernandez doubled to the gap in left-centerfield to drive in Nicholas Lucchese from third base.

The Falcons knotted the score at 2-2 with a run in the second inning. Mitchell Lundholm singled to left to plate Reynaldo Meja.

Fisher grabbed a one-run edge, 3-2, in the fourth frame as Elijah Perez scampered home on a wild pitch.

The Lions pulled even in the top of the eighth, 3-3. Miednik swiped third and scored on a throwing error to tie the contest.

Eastern Nazarene reclaimed a two-run lead in the top of the ninth inning. Ootton launched a two-out, two-run homer to centerfield to drive in Carey.

The Falcons plated three runs in the bottom of the frame clinch the win. Dennis Santiago crossed the dish on a base knock by Jacob Deziel before a sacrifice fly by Victor Torres scored Deziel from third base. Lucchese landed a walk-off single to drive in Perez for the game-winning tally.

In his first start on the mound for the Lions, Francis Ferguson (Jefferson, Mass.) tossed three innings and posted one strikeout. Morgan Weast (Cincinnati, Ohio) hurled three innings of relief and fanned three batters. Brenndan Rogers (Whitman, Mass.) worked three frames and struck out one before Jon Tessier (Coronado, Calif.) made his first appearance of the season out of the bullpen.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene will host St. Joseph's (Maine) March 13 in a non-league doubleheader at Libby Field in Weymouth, Mass.