Reading, Mass.: In a battle between two of the top teams in the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) the SUNY Cobleskill baseball team split a doubleheader with the host Lions of Eastern Nazarene College (ENC) losing the opener of 12-2 and taking the nightcap 14-7 in games played at Austin Prep on Saturday afternoon. With the split the Fighting Tigers are now 12-18 overall on the season including an 8-2 record in NAC play while the Lions are 7-16-1 overall with a 5-5 conference record.
 
In the opener, the Lions victimized Fighting Tiger pitching for 12 runs on 12 hits jumping out to a 7-0 lead after three innings and never looking back as ENC starter Francis Ferguson limited Cobleskill to six hits over seven innings to post the victory for the home team.
 
Junior second baseman Stephen Tejada, Queens, N.Y., High School for Construction Technologies, continued his recent hot streak at the plate going 2-for-3 with a run scored, a stolen base and an RBI while senior shortstop David Flora, Windsor, N.Y., Windsor High School/Herkimer Community College, went 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
 
In the series finale the Orange & Black out slugged the Lions as Cobleskill used three home runs off the bats of senior first baseman Samuel Gutierrez, Queens, N.Y., Martin Van Buren High School/Queensborough Community College, sophomore left fielder Logan Firment, Andes, N.Y., South Kortright High School, and junior catcher Dylan Pohl, East Meadow, N.Y., East Meadow High School, and as six-run outburst in the top of the seventh inning to put the game on the win side of their ledger.
 
With the offense in high gear, starting pitcher Stephen Tejada went six innings allowing only two earned runs on seven hits, striking out four and walking two to post his first win of the season.
 
At the plate Samuel Gutierrez went 2-for-4 with a double, a home run, a stolen base, two runs scored and three RBI, with senior third baseman Matthew Snyder, Latham, N.Y., Shaker High School, going 2-for-5 with a double, a run scored and a pair of RBI and Dylan Pohl going 2-for-5 with a homer, two runs scored and two RBI.  
 
Cobleskill will next be in action Wednesday April 24 when they travel to New Paltz, N.Y. for a solo non-league contest with the Hawks of SUNY New Paltz with first pitch slated for 4:00 p.m.