BOSTON, Mass. - The Salve Regina University baseball team defeated Eastern Nazarene by a score of 7-3 in the opening game of a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) doubleheader before dropping a tough 7-6 decision in 11 innings during the night cap.

SRU jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first off of two hits and a Lions' error.

The Seahawks posted four more runs in the third and fourth innings to take a 7-0 lead. The stint saw freshman Joe Haley (North Kingstown, R.I.) and sophomore Dominic Di Sano (Central Falls, R.I.) double and sophomores Nicholas Dell'Anno (Reading, Mass.) and Daniel Donohue (Westbury, N.Y.) tally base-knocks for Salve Regina.

Eastern Nazarene got its three runs in the fourth and fifth off of six Lions' hits but left nine on base in the last four innings of the contest to hand SRU its sixth win of the year.

Senior Danny Rodriguez (Bronx, N.Y.) went 3-for-4 with an RBI in the contest, while sophomores Max Pugh (San Diego, Calif.) and Ryan Garza (Elsa, Texas) posted two hits apiece.

The Seahawks were led by Di Sano who went 4-for-4 with 3 RBI's and a run scored. Five other SRU players garnered hits in the 7-3 victory.

Junior Daniel Kehew (Portsmouth, R.I.) got the win for SRU and senior Steve Doyle (Weymouth, Mass.) took the loss for ENC.

In game two, the Seahawks took no time getting on the board with the aid of two Lions' first inning errors which resulted in a 2-0 lead heading into the second.

The third Salve Regina run crossed the plate in the third, as senior Matt Capone reached on a leadoff single, and was moved around the bases by a Dell'Anno RBI single two batters later.

ENC responded in its half of the third, scoring a run off of an E.J. Estrada (Alpharetta, Ga.) single and a Mike Chiaradio (Teaneck, N.J.) RBI base hit.

In the fourth, Eastern Nazarene committed its third and fourth errors of the contest, and the Seahawks' bats woke up, allowing Salve Regina to score three more runs and stretch the gap to 6-1.

Eastern Nazarene rallied back as senior Johan Villalona (Bronx, N.Y.) came to the plate in the bottom of the fifth, smashing a home run over the wall. Estrada singled next and advanced to second on a Garza groundout. SRU freshman pitcher Kyle Pheland then let a wild pitch go, allowing Garza to move over another base. Pheland hit the ensuing batter, freshman Rocco Martinelli (Panama City, Panama), to put two on for Chiaradio who promptly singled to score Estrada, while moving Martinelli to second. Doyle was next to reach, getting to first on an error by the SRU third baseman. With the bases loaded, Rodriguez brought Martinelli home on a sacrifice fly to left. With two outs, Pugh got his job done, hitting an RBI single to score Chiaradio, capping a four run, four hit inning to get the Lions within one heading into the sixth.

Starting ENC pitcher, senior Jeremy Cook (Hatfield, Pa.) began to heat up, building off of his teams' momentum, retiring the Seahawks' two, three, and four hitters in order in the 6th.

With one out in the seventh, Doyle who ripped a single to begin ENC's rally. Head coach BJ Hampton then signaled for senior Ben Bergeron (Rochester, Mass.) to pinch run for Doyle. Rodriguez and Pugh followed with consecutive singles. Looking to tie the game, Hampton sent Bergeron wheeling around third off of Pugh's hit, but a perfect relay cut him down at the plate for the second out of the inning.

Sophomore Anthony Berroa (Teaneck, N.J.) came up to bat next, and promptly delivered a clutch two-out game-tying single to send the game into extra innings.

The two teams battled through three scoreless extra frames before heading into the 11^th still tied at 6-6.

Jordan got the Lions through the top of the inning quickly and a pair of base knocks from Garza and Martinelli got things going for the Lions in the bottom of the frame. Chiaradio reached on a fielder's choice that advanced Garza to third. After an ENC groundout, the Seahawks intentionally walked Rodriguez. With the bases loaded, an errant pick-off throw saw Garza score to give the Lions baseball team its first conference win of the season.

Cook threw 10 innings, setting Jordan up with his first collegiate win. Sophomore Jake Rosner (Fairfield, Conn.) took the loss for SRU.

Chiaradio, Rodriguez, Pugh, Estrada and Garza all tallied two hits for Eastern Nazarene in the win.

Eastern Nazarene (2-14, 1-3 CCC) gets a week off and is set to take on Endicott on March 31st for a 12:00 p.m. doubleheader. Salve Regina (6-8, 1-1 CCC) returns to action Sunday, March 25th at 12:00 p.m. versus Western New England at home.

Courtesy of ENC Sports Information