On the first day of March, it snowed. On the last day of March, the Eastern University baseball team got their first really nice day for a home game. The Eagles did not squander the beautiful weather as they overcame a 5-0 deficit to top Neumann College 8-6 in a non-conference home game.
The Knights, who had ridden their potent offense through the early part of the year struck for four runs in the top of the first, but the Eagles ended the rally when Ryan Polk snared a line-drive and fired to second for a double play. Eastern starter Nolan Potter then settled in and held the Knights for the remainder of his outing. The Eastern bats, however, could only muster a pair of singles through the first three innings.
Neumann grabbed another run on a sacrifice fly in the fourth, but Paul Sinclair got out of the inning without further damage. The Eagles put together their first rally of the day in the bottom of the fourth. Andrew Reynolds and Ramon Reyes each drew walks and then executed a double steal to get into scoring position with just one out. After Phil Clark walked to load the bases, Ben Jones knocked in the first Eastern run with a fielder's choice up the middle.
The Eagles then re-loaded the bases and scored two more runs when André Butler took one on the shoulder and Scott Renauro walked. The Eagles left three on, but still cut the deficit to a more manageable 5-3.
Sinclair, meanwhile, was doing a job on the Neumann batters. The Eastern left-hander would finish the day allowing just two earned runs in five plus innings pitched. Eastern skipper Matt Midkiff was pleased with Sinclair's approach. "Paul pitched well for us, and he really kept us in the game and gave our hitters a chance to make something happen. He threw strikes and made them hit their way on."
The Eagles took the lead after the seventh inning stretch with a five run inning. Reynolds started the action with a lead-off double, and Reyes followed up with a single. Ryan Polk came to the plate as the go-ahead run and promptly tied the game with a two-run double. After a pitching change and a pair of fly ball outs, Crowley delivered the big blow of the day with a two-out double. Butler took another inside pitch to the body, and he and Crowley scored when Renauro doubled home two more runs to give the Eagles an 8-5 lead.
Sinclair got in a little trouble in the ninth when the first two batters reached, but Chris Dole came on to pick up the final three outs to earn the save. Midkiff was pleased with his players' execution and the result. "We needed this one, "he said, "and was good to see the guys step up and take it. Jimmy really hit the ball well and Polk had a couple big hits as well. Our pitchers pitched well, and we made all the plays in the field."
The Eagles travel to Wesley College for a 3:30 game on Thursday. The Eagles beat Wesley 7-2 earlier in the year.
