The first big surprise of the day came when Eastern and Penn State-Berks took the field. Though the weather was perfect for springtime baseball, torrential rains throughout the weekend had dumped over three inches of rain onto the field. The Eastern coaching staff and players worked throughout the day to get the playing surface in good condition for a nine inning game. Once play started, the Eagles fell behind 4-0 early but used a pair of unorthodox double-plays to change the tenor of the game before rallying to win 7-5.

The visiting Lions (6-6) took an early lead as they squared up several pitches for a three run first. Eastern starter Greg Lukasik settled in to limit the damage after five of the first six hitters reached. PSU-Berks left runners at second and third. The Lions scored their second run of the day with a walk and a pair of sacrifice hits. Senior catcher Ramon Reyes helped out his battery-mate with a snap throw behind the runner to end the inning. Eastern Head Coach Matt Midkiff said of Lukasik's early struggles, "Greg was missing with strikes up in the zone. This is only his second outing, and it has been hard for him to get in a regular pitching routine. They were patient and made good contact when he got behind in the count, but with experience, he will improve his command in the zone and do well."

The Eagles, meanwhile could not get things going early as PSU-Berks' starter Matt Emrick retired them in order in the second. He faced just 13 batters in the first four innings.

Berks threatened again in the third with a lead-off double from Seth Schultz. Lukasik got a grounder to third, and Joel Rios held the runner before getting the out at first. Scott Renauro then made the defensive play of the game. The sophomore shortstop charged a slow chopper that was dying on the soft infield. After a convincing fake to first, he wheeled back to second to catch the runner off the bag. Rios made the tag in a run down and then tagged the batter near second to get the Eagles out of the inning.

The Lions loaded the bases in the top of the fourth as well. Midkiff made the move to bring Kyle Kurdewan into the game. The freshman right-hander had struggled in his last outing, but he faced just a single batter to get three outs in the fourth. The first batter lined into a double play. Kurdawan then caught the runner at first leaning, and the Eastern defense earned the final out of the inning at the plate on a tidy 1-3-6-2 caught stealing. Kurdewan's Houdini act in the fourth gave the Eagles a chance to get their bats in order.

Eastern went quietly in the fourth, but Kurdewan gave his team another shutdown inning, and the Eagle offense finally came to life in the fifth. Matt Horican started the rally with a sharp single, Eastern's second hit of the day, up the middle. Reyes then launched a triple to straight-away center to plate the first Eastern run. Ernie Stiegler knocked in his second RBI of the year with a single up the middle. André Butler kept the rally going with a line single to right center. The speedy center-fielder then stole his way into scoring position. Senior infielder Bill Brim, who had entered the game the inning before at second base, then delivered a two-RBI double to the gap in right-center to tie the game. The Eagles were unable to grab the lead, but the momentum of the game had changed.

Berks manufactured another run after a Kurdewan walk in the top of the sixth, but the Eagles responded with three on the bottom of the inning. Horican again started the rally. This time, the freshman right-fielder walked. Reyes singled to move Horican to third and advanced to second on the play at third. Kurt Kebaugh reached on an error to drive home Horican, and Stiegler drove home Reyes with another ground ball to second base. Renauro then drove in the final run of the game with a single to left-center.

Kurdewan gave up a two-out double in the seventh, but he seemed to be gaining strength as the game progressed. He struck out a pair in the eighth to finish his day. He finished with four strikeouts over five innings to earn his first collegiate win. John Taylor allowed a pair of base-runners with no outs in the ninth, but the big sophomore battled back with a strike out and a high fly to center to earn the save. 

Midkiff was pleased with his team's situational hitting and with Kurdewan's effort in relief. He said, "Kyle did a great job keeping us in the game today. He didn't have his best stuff at the beginning, but he battled and gave us a chance. We had some really good at bats to build some big innings." He also commented on Taylor's save saying, "We need to have some of those situations early in the year. John probably felt too good when he came in. They got an infield hit, and then he missed to walk a guy, but he settled in and got the job done. It is good for us to develop some confidence in those situations."

The Eagles (5-3) start Freedom Conference action this Friday at Manhattanville. They will play again at home with a Saturday doubleheader against the Valiants.

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