Baseball Drops Doubleheader to Eastern Friday

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.- In its first games in the Palmetto State, the Eastern Nazarene College baseball team absorbed a pair of losses to Eastern Friday afternoon. The Lions fell to the Eagles 5-0 and 8-6 in the first matchup between the two teams since 1985.

The Lions dip to 3-2 overall with the results while the Eagles improve to 3-6 on the year.

Shane McNamara (Londonderry, N.H.) posted four hits and scored a run on the day. Kelvin Cortez (Corona, N.Y.) notched a pair of base knocks, one RBI, and a run scored. Frank Landeiro (Orlando, Fla.) added two hits and two runs scored. Anderson Jimenez (Lowell, Mass.) chipped in with two base knocks while Steven Pesce (Harrison, N.Y.) finished with a home run.

In the opening tilt, Eastern blanked Eastern Nazarene 5-0.

The Eagles plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning to snag a 2-0 lead. Mark Cruser and Brad Clemens drew back-to-back bases-loaded walks to knock in Connor Schilling and Sean Cottrell.

Eastern widened the gap to 5-0 with three runs in the second frame. Griffin Falco belted a leadoff home run before Cottrell roped a double to drive in Logan Klember and Schilling.

Briley Seiter (Bellevue, Ky.) tossed 1.1 innings in his second start of the spring and fanned one batter. Jon Tessier (Coronado, Calif.) hurled 3.2 innings in his third appearance out of the bullpen and registered five strikeouts. O'Neil Jimenez (Lowell, Mass.) worked one scoreless frame of relief in his collegiate debut.

In the series finale, Eastern edged Eastern Nazarene 8-6 to clinch the sweep.

The Eagles scored one run in the top of the first inning to seize a 1-0 lead as Cottrell doubled to plate Schilling from first base.

Eastern doubled its advantage to 2-0 with a run in the second as Ryan Turzani crossed the dish.

The Eagles produced two runs in the fourth frame to extend their lead to 4-0. David Hunsberger laced a two-out double to score Matt McHale and Cottrell.

The Lions got on the board in the home half of the fourth, tallying one run. McNamara tagged up and motored home on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Hunter Leroux-Porter (Greenland, N.H.).

Eastern tacked on a pair of runs in the fifth to stretch the margin to 6-1. McHale singled to drive in Jason Hall and Brian Lang.

Eastern Nazarene manufactured one run in the bottom of the fifth to cut the deficit to 6-2 as Landeiro scampered home on a wild pitch.

The Eagles answered with a run in the sixth to reclaim a five-run advantage, 7-2.

The Lions generated three runs in the sixth inning to narrow the gap to 7-5. Cortez raked a double down the left field line to score Ethaniel Almendarez (Lynn, Mass.) before Cortez and Landeiro crossed the dish on back-to-back wild pitches.

Eastern chalked up a run in the top of the seventh to push its lead to 8-5.

Eastern Nazarene managed a run in the bottom of the frame to pull to within two, 8-6. Pesce launched his team-leading second home run of the season to lead off the inning.

Morgan Weast (Cincinnati, Ohio) threw four innings and recorded three strikeouts in his second start on the mound. Dale Beneway (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.), Eduardo Labour (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic), and Cortez all made their collegiate pitching debuts out of the bullpen while O'Neil Jimenez saw relief action for the second game of the afternoon.

Up next, the Lions battle Penn State-Berks March 5.