Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 West Palm Beach, Fla. - (3/8/2018) – Freshman designate hitter Erving Nazario (Hamilton, N.J.) was 6-for-8 with a pair of doubles in a 13-4 game-one win and his first collegiate home run in a 5-4 game-two victory for junior Matthew Kress (Lansdale, Pa.), who improved to 2-0 by allowing Florida National University just two earned runs on five hits and three walks while striking out two. Senior first baseman Matthew Owens (Cherry Hill, N.J.), junior catcher Eric Gilham (Deptford, N.J.), and senior third baseman Evan Grimes (Norristown, Pa.) joined Nazario with multiple hits in game one. Owens also hit a home run in game two, giving the Griffins a valuable two-run edge in the first inning.
 
Chestnut Hill College (4-3) and Florida National University (6-10) wasted no time putting bat to ball at Santaluces Community High School as the Griffins used a lead-off single from sophomore second baseman Ameir Uzzell (Levittown, Pa.), a Nazario single, a walk to senior shortstop Alec Craig (Hammonton, N.J.), and a pair of run-scoring singles from Owens and Gilham to grab a 3-2 first-inning edge. Gilham manufactured a run in the third inning, turning a lead-off walk, a stolen base, and a pair of wild pitches into the Griffins fourth run of the contest, 4-2. After a lead-off walk to senior centerfielder Vincent Case (Southampton, Pa.), a stolen base, a Uzzell single, and a Nazario double plated the first two of three Scarlet and Gold runs in the fourth inning, 7-2. The Conquistadors got two back in the bottom of the inning, 7-4, but the Griffins double-down in the their half of the fifth inning, scoring four runs on a one-out Case double, a two-run Nazario double, and a Craig grounder to first base, 11-4. Additional Scarlet and Gold tallies crossed in the sixth inning, 12-4, and eighth inning to post the 13-4 final. Senior Patrick Kelley (Pipersville, Pa.) benefitted from the offensive outburst, collecting his first win (1-0) of the season. He allowed three earned runs on four hits and three walks, while striking out three. Junior Tim Casey (Ivyland, Pa.) struck out three and recorded the save (1) with three innings of two-hit relief.

The first inning was busy in game two as well; Chestnut Hill College grabbed a 2-0 advantage with Owens two-out home run, but Florida National University halved the production by turning a lead-off walk into a tally with a wild pitch, and a pair of infield grounders, 2-1. The Griffins advanced their position with a lead-off double from Uzzell and Nazario's home run, 4-1, in the third inning and a lead-off triple from junior right fielder David McBrearty (Sicklerville, N.J.) and a run-scoring single from sophomore catcher Thomas Spratt (Doylestown, Pa.) in the fourth inning, 5-1. From there, the Scarlet and Gold leaned on Kress to silence the Conquistadors. He held them for their next at-bat, but surrendered a run on two hits before an error permitted a second Florida National University run to score in the sixth inning, 5-3. A seventh-inning sacrifice fly plated another Conquistador run, 5-4, but the rally was short-lived with freshman Billy Bethel (Yardley, Pa.) earning his first collegiate save (1) with a fly out to left field.
 
The Chestnut Hill College baseball team continues their Florida schedule tomorrow, Friday, March 9, with a 6:00 p.m. contest against Palm Beach Atlantic University.