In the Freedom Preseason Poll, Eastern University Baseball was picked to finish last by every coach. The Eagles may have turned heads with single wins over Manhattanville and King's, but the young Eastern squad made a statement today with a doubleheader sweep of Delaware Valley College. The Eagles (9-7, 4-4) rallied to win game one and controlled all the action in a lopsided win in game two.

The beautiful weather did not look like it was going to be enough to save the day early as the visiting Aggies roughed up Eastern starter Mike McNulty for seven runs in the top of the second inning. Gary Cooper delivered the big blow with a three run shot to left.

The Eagles chipped away for single tallies in each of the next four innings, but were unable to put together the big inning. While the bats were carving into the lead, Kyle Kurdewan set down the Del Val bats without a run. The first year right-hander entered at the start of the third, and he stayed out of trouble until the top of the seventh.

Up 7-4, the Aggies put their first three batters on base in the top of the inning. The Eagles pulled in their defense, and Kurdewan got exactly the result he wanted as Matt Giberson rapped a sharp ground ball at Joel Rios. Eastern's third baseman fired home and Ramon Reyes made the solid turn to get the batter at first. It was the first of three double plays the Eagles would turn on the day.

Head Coach Matt Midkiff commented on the choice to bring the defense in saying, "I looked at the scoreboard, and three runs is a lot and four is a lot more. If they get one there, it is almost the same as a big inning. Kyle executed the pitch and we made the good play in the field." Kurdewan then finished the Houdini act with a strike out.

Even with the great defensive effort, the Eagles still had work to do. Greg DeSarro started the rally with a ringing pinch-hit double to right-center. Jessie Taylor entered to run for DeSarro. André Butler got hit by a pitch and Rios worked a walk to load the bases for the top of the order.

Scott Renauro, who earlier in the game extended his hitting streak to 10 with an RBI single, got caught looking. Matt Horican picked him up with an RBI single, and Dan Garcia then tied the game with a single. Garcia had four hits in each game today.

With one out, the visitors intentionally walked Mike McNulty to set up a force at any base. Greg Lukasik then hit a slow roller to third to score Horican with the winning run. The walk-off win is the third of the year for Midkiff's squad. Kurdewan earned his second win of the year in relief.

The Eagles did not need drama in a 12-1 win in game two. The top of the Eastern order battered the Del Val staff and John Taylor scattered five hits over seven innings to pick up the win. The big right-hander struck out three and had some sharp fielding behind him. The Eagles turned a pair of double plays to raise their season total to 21.

Midkiff said, "John Taylor did what we expect him to do today. He used his stuff efficiently, and he let our defense work. The top of our order really hit in game two." Led by Garcia's 4-4 effort, the first five batters in the Eastern line-up went 14-19 with 5 extra base hits.

Taylor surrendered a run in the top of the first, but Garcia put the Eagles in front with a two-run shot. As Taylor navigated the Aggie line-up, the Eagles brought the top of the order up again in the third.

Renauro led off with his second of three doubles on the afternoon. Eastern's sophomore shortstop has reached safely in all 16 games this year and is hitting .463 and slugging at a .741 clip. Garcia picked up an RBI single and McNulty drove in two. Lukasik knocked in the fourth run of the inning to give the home side a 6-1 edge. 

Eastern picked up a single tally in the fourth before breaking open another big inning in the sixth. DeSarro delivered the big blow of the inning with a pinch-hit three-run homer. Midkiff commented on DeSarro's productivity as a pinch hitter. "He has shown the ability to come off the bench and put together really good at bats. He hit two balls really well in his two at bats today."

Midkiff continued to talk about his team saying, "We are not where we want to be yet, but the guys are playing with good team chemistry, and they are starting to believe that if we stick to our plan, that we can get back into any game. Down 7-0 in the first game, we kept chipping away, and Kyle did exactly what we needed him to do. We will keep working to get better and see what happens."

The Eagles, who have now tripled their win total from 2009, will complete the series at Delaware Valley on Monday afternoon.

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