The two teams combined for 32 hits in the Monday marathon. Dan Garcia capped a three-run ninth inning rally with blistering RBI single to left.

Eastern jumped to an early 3-0 lead with a single run in the second and two in the fourth. André Butler drove in Matt Horican with a deep sacrifice fly for the first run. Scott Renauro blasted a two-out solo shot in the fourth and Dan Garcia drove in Joel Rios who had reached on an error.

The visiting Mules finally scratched against Eastern starter Mike McNulty with a pair of runs in the fourth. Eastern scratched back for a single run after a Ramon Reyes double in the bottom of the inning Greg Lukasik and Kurt Kebaugh hit ground balls to the right side for productive outs. 

The visitors grabbed a 6-4 lead with a wild four-run sixth. Muhlenberg rapped five hits and had the bases loaded with two out. Pinch-hitter Brian Beck lifted a deep foul ball to left field that Kebaugh flagged down with a diving grab right at the out of play boundary. The initial call of out of play was reversed when the umpires examined the position of Kebaugh's feet in play and conversed about the established ground rules.

Garcia drove in Renauro and Rios with a single to left in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game at six. The Eagles, however were unable to take the lead until the seventh. After Horican singled and advanced on an error, Kebaugh delivered again with an opposite field liner just over the second baseman's glove to put the Eagles up 7-6.

"Kurt had a really good day, " Head Coach Matt Midkiff commented,"he took good at-bats, and he played a very good left field. As the sun started going down, it was tougher and tougher to play out there." 

The visitors grabbed the lead back in the top of the eighth on a prodigous two-run blast to left by Joe DiCecilia. Muhlenberg's first baseman finished 3-3 with a pair of walks and four RBIs.

The Eagles went quietly in the eighth, and the guests built their lead to 9-7 on two ground ball hits in the ninth. With the top of the order going down in the eighth, the bottom half of the Eastern order would have to come through to give the Eagles a shot.

Reyes worked the count and pulled a hard ground ball to left for a lead off double. Greg DeSarro hit a ball to deep right for an out, before Horican and Kebaugh worked walks to load the bases for Butler. Butler lifted a high fly to right center to move the first two runners up to set up a first and third situation for Renauro. Muhlenberg opted to walk Renauro intentionally and face Rios. The sophomore third baseman did not chase pitches out of the zone and drove in the tying run with a free pass to set up Garcia's game-winner.

"We had a great approach in that last inning," Assistant Coach Dave Lorber commented, "if we can take at bats like that every time, we will be very tough to beat. Danny killed that final ball." He continued, "This group of guys always believes that we can. They have great resilience that way."

Garcia's fourth hit of the afternoon was his 48th of the year. He leads Renauro by one in that category. The two are tied for the team lead with 30 RBIs. Renauro finished 3-5 with a double and a home run, and Reyes finished 3-4 with two doubles. . Matt Martin pitched the last two innings to pick up the win in relief.

Eastern (17-12, 7-8 Freedom) returns to action Thursday afternoon with a home game against Arcadia. The 17th win of the year pulls this year's squad to within one win of the program high-water mark set in 2001. Coach Midkiff's squad will return to league action with a weekend series against Wilkes.

Box Score