KEENE, N.H. 一 Despite hitting a pair of home runs to climb within one run in the middle innings and rallying in the ninth, the visiting North Shore Navigators fell to the Keene SwampBats 7-5 in Thursday night’s New England Collegiate Baseball League game at Alumni Field.

North Shore slipped to 0-2 on the young season, while Keene is 2-1.

Leading the Navigator offense, first baseman Brody Dalton (St. Johns River State) went 2-for-5 with four RBI, including a two-run homer in the sixth and a two-run single in the ninth. Catcher Aidan Sengenberger (Stonehill) drove home North Shore’s first run of the summer on a solo shot in the fourth.

Keene wasted little time opening the scoring as left fielder Michael O’Brien’s (Mississippi State) one-out walk and stolen base set the table in the bottom of the first. After a dropped third strike moved O’Brien to third, an RBI fielder’s choice grounder by first baseman Chandler Tuupo (Charleston Southern) made it 1-0 SwampBats.

The hosts loaded the bases with one out in the fourth, turning it into a three-run, four-hit frame. Tuupo’s RBI single doubled the lead to 2-0 before third baseman Nicholas Romano (Florida Atlantic) followed with a two-run base knock two batters later.

After North Shore’s season-opening loss to Upper Valley ended in a shutout loss on Tuesday, Sengenberger broke Keene’s bid for another when he cleared the center-field fence in the fifth for a solo shot.

In the Navigators’ half of the sixth, second baseman Jack Gold (Pomona-Pitzer) reached on an error with one out, and Dalton followed with a two-run homer out to right-center. North Shore continued to threaten in the inning, but Keene reliever James Lordi (Central Florida) stranded the bases loaded after inheriting a two-out runner on base.

Keene tacked on insurance runs in each of its final three at-bats, beginning with catcher Zack Thompson’s (Mercer) leadoff solo homer in the sixth. 

After two North Shore errors allowed another to score in the seventh, Thompson doubled and scored on Romano’s single back up the middle in the eighth. Navs reliever Cole Yennaco (Merrimack) limited the damage by retiring the next three batters he faced.

The visitors rallied in the ninth as Jackson Powers (Saint Anselm) knocked a pinch-hit, one-out single, center fielder Sam Parks (Stonehill) drew his third walk of the game, and Dalton was hit by a pitch. With the bases loaded, Dalton ripped a two-run single through the right side, but SwampBats closer Todd Kniebee (Florida Atlantic) recorded a strikeout with two runners in scoring position thereafter to end the game.

After Liam Kinneen (Princeton) started and worked three innings, Ray McNaught (Quinnipiac) pitched a scoreless frame with one strikeout out of the North Shore bullpen. Peabody native Joe Castrichini (Longwood) fanned two while allowing just a solo homer across his two innings. Elliott Eaton (Princeton) and Yennaco finished the game as each made their second one-inning appearance of the summer.

The Navs return to Fraser Field on Friday night to host the Ocean State Waves in their second home game of the season. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m.