Baseball Slugs Five Homers in Doubleheader Sweep of Gordon

WEYMOUTH, Mass.- Junior Shane McNamara (Londonderry, N.H.) belted three home runs while seniors Mike Griffin (Hudson, N.H.) and Steven Pesce (Harrison, N.Y.) each launched one homer to propel the Eastern Nazarene College baseball team to a pair of non-conference wins over Gordon Wednesday afternoon at Libby Field.

The Lions rallied for a 6-5 walk-off win in game one before cruising to a 13-1 victory in the finale.

McNamara paced the offense with three hits, three runs scored, and eight RBIs on the day. Griffin finished with a pair of hits, two runs scored, four RBIs, and a stolen base. Francis Ferguson (Jefferson, Mass.) collected two hits, drove in two RBIs, swiped two bases, and scored four runs. Max Miednik (Parkland, Fla.) and Pesce each chipped in with two hits, two runs, and one RBI.

In the opening game, Eastern Nazarene erased a four-run deficit to triumph 6-5 in dramatic fashion.

The visitors grabbed a 2-0 edge with two runs in the top of the second inning. Hunter Routhier drew a bases-loaded walk to knock in Patrick Tevenan. Evan Paquette scampered home on an infield hit off the bat of Dalton Cody.

The home side got on the board in the bottom of the fourth to cut the deficit to 2-1. Pesce smacked a leadoff home run over the left field fence for his first homer of the spring and sixth of his career.

Gordon tallied three runs to widen the gap to 5-1 in the sixth inning. Jalen Coyne-Martinez singled up the middle to drive in Josh Popovitch. Connor Hartman flared a two-out base knock to plate Routhier and Coyne Martinez.

Eastern Nazarene rallied to produce five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to notch its second walk-off win of the year. McNamara clobbered his second homer of the spring, belting a three-run shot to drive in Miednik and Ferguson. Kelvin Cortez (Corona, N.Y.) and George Calderon Jr. (New York, N.Y.) scored the game-tying and game-winning runs as Jamie Carey (Amherst, Mass.) landed a single in centerfield.

Morgan Weast (Cincinnati, Ohio) pitched five innings in his second start of the season and seven batters. Jon Tessier (Coronado, Calif.) worked two innings of relief and registered four strikeouts in his fourth outing of the year.

In the nightcap, the Lions erupted for 13 runs on nine hits and eight walks en route to a 13-1 win.

Eastern Nazarene manufactured two runs in the bottom of the first to seize a 2-0 lead. McNamara crushed his second home run on the afternoon to knock in Ferguson.

The Lions doubled their advantage to 4-0 with a pair of run in the third inning. McNamara smashed his third homer of the day and second of the contest to plate Ferguson.

Gordon got on the board with a run in the top of the sixth, to trim the margin to 4-1. Hartman tagged up and motored home as Mike Oley lifted a sacrifice fly to left field.

The hosts exploded for nine runs in the bottom of the frame to extend the gap to 13-1. Griffin scampered home on a wild pitch before Miednik drew a bases-loaded walk to knock in Carey. Ferguson followed with a base hit to shallow left field to plate Joshua Bombard (Rutland, Mass.) and Clifford Guerrero (Boston, Mass.). McNamara hoisted a sacrifice fly to centerfield to drive in Miednik from third base. In his second at-bat of the inning, Griffin belted a grand slam home run to score Jaime Roldan (Boston, Mass.), Ferguson, and Pesce.

Ryan Sharkey (Salisbury, Mass.) threw 5.1 innings in his first start of the year and recorded five strikeouts. Briley Seiter (Bellevue, Ky.) hurled 1.2 innings in his first relief appearance of the spring and finished with three strikeouts.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene will host Fisher March 27 in a non-league twinbill at Libby Field in Weymouth, Mass.