In game one of their fourth Freedom Conference doubleheader of the year, Eastern University Baseball erased a 3-0 deficit with seven fourth inning runs. The Eagles tacked on another two runs in the fifth and held off a late rally from league-leading DeSales (15-10, 10-2) to win the opener 9-6. The Bulldogs cruised to a 15-1 game two win, but with the win in the opener, the Eagles (11-10, 6-6) stay alive in the playoff hunt.

DeSales picked up a run in the second inning with just one hit. Carson Slonaker led off with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Two ground outs later, the Bulldogs had a 1-0 lead. Eastern head coach Matt Midkiff pointed to the early DeSales run to emphasize the importance of the game one win. He said, "DeSales is a very good team. We make a mistake with a cross-up, and they get their runner home with two productive outs."

The Bulldogs stretched their lead to 3-0 with another pair of runs in the third. The visitors got RBi doubles from Mike Newland and Jason Hadinger. Eastern starter Nick Moeltner escaped the inning with just two runs in. Midkiff summed up his freshman starter's day saying, "Nick gave up a couple in the third, but he limited the damage and gave us a chance to be in it. After the third, he threw strikes in all counts and was able to keep them off balance." Moeltner went six innings, and allowed four runs to pick up his third win of the year. While he gave up eight hits, he only walked one.

Eastern's big inning started with a Greg Lukasik one-out double down the left field line. Kurt Kebaugh then made the play that changed the game with a beautiful push bunt down the first base line. The senior outfielder got out of the box quickly and made it to first without a play. 

André Butler knocked in Lukasik with a solid single to right center, and Joel Rios worked a deep count for a walk to load the bases. Scott Renauro and Dan Garcia each earned RBIs by getting hit with inside pitches. Renauro, whose hitting streak reached 16 games today, took a glancing blow off his forearm. Garcia paid more dearly for his RBI as he tied the game with a solid blow to the middle of the back. Mike McNulty put the Eagles up 5-3 with a two-out single up the middle and Lukasik finished the scoring with a solid single to center.

The Eagles increased their lead to 9-3 in the next inning as Renauro doubled in Rios and Garcia hit a flare to right center that drove in Renauro. Moeltner, meanwhile, pitched from the stretch in both the fifth and sixth, but he was able to escape without giving up a run.

Mike Newland cracked his third home run of the series to lead off the seventh for the guests, and Midkiff gave the ball to Rios for the finish. The sophomore moved to the mound from third base and was able to get the final three outs to preserve the win.

The Bulldogs pounded out 18 hits, including a pair of home runs from Newland, in the second game and controlled the action of the game throughout. Dan Gayeski went six solid innings to earn the win for the guests. Renauro drove in the Eagles' only run of the game with a single off the center field fence.

Though he was disappointed with the second game, Midkiff felt the win in game one was very important for his team. The Eagles have three league series remaining. They are currently tied with Manhattanville in the fourth spot, but by virtue of their series win earlier in the year, the Valiants hold the tie-breaker if the two teams were to remain tied. 

Before they return to Conference play against FDU on Friday, the Eagles will play Valley Forge Christian on Monday and Lancaster Bible on Tuesday.

Box Score Game One

Box Score Game Two