Baseball Tripped Up by Tufts in Midweek Tilt, 13-5

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College baseball team dropped a 13-5 decision to Tufts Wednesday afternoon at Libby Field.

The Lions move to 6-6 on the season with the setback while the Jumbos, who are receiving votes in the latest D3Baseball.com National Poll, improve to 3-0 overall with the win.

Cam Barry (Manchester, Conn.) posted a team-best two base hits and scored one run. Luis Pina (Lynn, Mass.) notched three RBIs, one hit, and one run scored on the day. Shane McNamara (Londonderry, N.H.) and Jaime Roldan (Boston, Mass.) both chipped in with one base knock and one run scored.

The visitors captured a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning as Kyle Cortese launched a two-run home run to plate Peter DeMaria.

Tufts tallied three runs in the third to widen the margin to 5-0. Miles Reid doubled down the left field line to knock in Patrick Solomon from second base. Jimmy Evans scurried home from third on a wild pitch before Reid crossed the dish on an infield hit by Cortese.

The Jumbos added a pair of scores to extend their advantage to 7-0. Clay Sowell motored home from third base on an RBI groundout by Solomon. Reid roped a two-out single to left field to drive in Connor Bowman.

Eastern Nazarene got on the board in the home half of the fifth to trim the deficit to 7-2. McNamara and Roldan both crossed the dish as Hernhy Lara (Boston, Mass.) reached on an outfield miscue with two outs.

Tufts generated three runs in the top of the sixth inning to stretch its lead to 10-2. Evans launched his first homer of the year, a three-run blast to score Ozzie Fleisher and Solomon.

The Lions produced three runs in the bottom of the frame to narrow the gap to 10-5. Pina clobbered his first collegiate home run, a pinch-hit bomb to drive in Juan Jacobo Lopez (San Diego, Calif.) and Barry.

The Jumbos scored twice in the top of the eighth to claim a 12-5 advantage. Cortese belted his second home run of the game while driving in Reid.

Tufts tacked on a run in the ninth inning to push their lead to 13-5. Solomon rounded third and scampered home as Reid reached on an error.

Briley Seiter (Bellevue, Ky.) hurled four innings in his fourth start of the spring and finished with three strikeouts. Eduardo Labour (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) worked 3.1 innings of relief and registered one strikeout. Dale Beneway (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) threw two-thirds of an inning and fanned one batter. Elvis Rosario (Lawrence, Mass.) tossed one inning in his first appearance of the season and collected two strikeouts.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene battles Bridgewater State March 17.