Baseball Splits League Doubleheader with New England College

TAUNTON, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College baseball team traded wins with New England College Saturday afternoon in a conference twinbill. The Lions dropped a 24-5 decision before rebounding to shutout the Pilgrims 1-0.

The Lions progress to 13-13 on the season and 3-3 in the New England Collegiate Conference with the results. The Pilgrims move to 10-9 overall and 4-2 in league action with the outcomes.

Andres Pinto (Boston, Mass.) notched a team-high two hits on the day to go with one RBI and one run scored. Juan Jacobo Lopez (San Diego, Calif.), Frank Landeiro (Orlando, Fla.), and Shane McNamara (Londonderry, N.H.) all posted one hit, one RBI, and one run scored. Hunter Leroux-Porter (Greenland, N.H.) and Matt Serrata (Ozone Park, N.Y.) each added one base knock and one run scored.

In game one, New England College racked up 25 hits en route to collecting a 24-5 win.

The visitors erupted for six runs in the top of the first inning to claim a 6-0 advantage.

The home side got on the board in the bottom of the first as Landeiro clobbered his second homer of the season to cut the deficit to 6-1.

New England College tallied a pair of runs in the second to widen the margin to 8-1. Connor Morin and Harutaro Takahashi each picked up RBI hits in the inning.

The Pilgrims produced 13 runs in the top of the fifth frame to extend their lead to 21-1.

Eastern Nazarene manufactured two runs in the home half of the fifth. Pinto roped a single to left field to drive in Serrata from second base. Pinto came around to cross the dish as Luis Pina (Lynn, Mass.) reached on an error.

The Lions scored twice in the sixth inning as Jacobo Lopez and Ruddy Vidal (Barahona, Dominican Republic) each landed RBI base knocks.

The guests tacked on three runs in the top of the seventh. Bryce Worth singled down the left field line to drive in Quinn Mansperger. Cooper Ribaudo laced a two-out single to left-centerfield to plate Stephen Dunham and Kyle Dobrie.

In the nightcap, Eastern Nazarene edged New England College 1-0.

The Lions chalked up the contest's lone run in the fourth inning as McNamara launched a solo home run.

Jon Tessier (Coronado, Calif.) improved to 6-0 with a complete-game effort on the mound, finishing with four strikeouts.

Looking ahead, Eastern Nazarene travels to Salem State April 12.