Baseball Falls to Salem State on Senior Night

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College baseball team absorbed a 14-6 loss to Salem State Tuesday evening at Adams Field in the final regular-season clash.

The Lions dip to 20-17-1 on the year with the result while the Vikings improve to 18-17 overall.

Prior to the start of the contest, the Eastern Nazarene baseball program recognized its senior class: Juan Jacobo Lopez (San Diego, Calif.), Hunter Leroux-Porter (Greenland, N.H.), Steven Pesce (Harrison, N.Y.), Briley Seiter (Bellevue, Ky.), and Morgan Weast (Cincinnati, Ohio).

Leroux-Porter racked up three base hits, two runs scored, and one RBI on the night. Tyler Bean (Wellington, Fla.) notched two hits, drove in three RBIs, and scored one run. Pesce chipped in with a pair of base knocks and one run scored.

The home side tallied one run in the bottom of the first inning to snag a 1-0 edge. Shane McNamara (Londonderry, N.H.) scorched a double down the right field line to drive in Pesce.

Eastern Nazarene chalked up three runs in the second to widen the margin to 4-0. Bean belted his third home run of the season, a three-run blast to score Leroux-Porter and Ethaniel Almendarez (Lynn, Mass.).

Salem State got on the board in the top of the fourth with a pair of runs to cut the deficit to 4-2. Jake Boucher tagged up and scampered home from third base on a sacrifice fly by Jack Sefrino. Tim Catalano followed with an RBI single to centerfield to plate Traverse Briana.

The visitors manufactured two runs in the fifth to knot the score at 4-4. TJ Beninati laced a double to knock in Brahiam Ortega before crossing the dish on an RBI groundout by Boucher.

The hosts reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the sixth, producing two runs to jump ahead 6-4. Leroux-Porter doubled down the left field line to drive in McNamara from second base. Jacobo Lopez followed with an RBI single to knock in Leroux-Porter.

The Vikings exploded for seven runs in the seventh inning to capture an 11-6 advantage before adding three runs in the eighth to stretch the gap to 14-6.

Seiter tossed four innings in his ninth start of the spring and scattered three hits. Kelvin Cortez (Corona, N.Y.) worked two innings in his fifth relief outing before Dale Beneway (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) made his 12th relief appearance. Eduardo Labour (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) hurled 1.2 innings and posted three strikeouts. O'Neil Jimenez (Lowell, Mass.) threw one-third of an inning and McNamara tossed one inning in his third pitching appearance.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene will begin NECC Tournament action May 6 at New England College. The third-seeded Lions will face No. 2 seed Mitchell in the opening game.