ST. DAVIDS, Pa.- Clear skies and 73 degree weather created a perfect day for a home opener. Early on, everything looked ideal for Eastern University Baseball (4-5-1, 0-1), but the visiting Wilkes Colonels (6-4, 1-0) rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win 7-5 in the first game of Freedom Conference play for both teams. Scott Renauro and Devon Ziegunfuss both homered in the loss.

Ziegunfuss put the Eagles on the board with a lead off shot to left to start the third inning. Joel Rios and André Butler singled to put pressure on Wilkes' starter Al Clocker. The two runners advanced on a ground out and scored on a Derek Ryan single to left. The inning endd without any further damage and the Eastern attack went quiet, and both pitchers settled into a rhythm.

Eastern starter Nick Moeltner worked through the first four innings without giving up a hit. He had thrown less than forty pitches at the start of the fifth inning when Tyler Marino pulled a single to right field to start the top of the fifth. Joel Watson doubled to put two in scoring position. After the next batter lined out to Joel Rios at third, Moeltner threw a 1-2 pitch down in the zone that Scott Skammer poked right over the second base bag to pull the visitors to within a run. Skammer stole second and scored on an error. 

The game remained tied at 3-3 when the Colonels led off the eighth with a pair of ground balls. Moeltner rushed the throw on the first one, and the other trickled off Mike McNulty's glove as he dove to his right. Matt Ruch hit a ground rule double to right, and Angus Young turned on an inside fastball for a 3-run homer that ultimately proved to be the difference.

Renauro homered to lead off the eighth and McNulty hit a two-out double, but the Eagles went to the ninth down three. A two-out rally in the ninth brought Renauro to the plate as the tying run, but there would be no miracle comeback today.

"We did not put enough pressure on their defense," Head Coach Matt Midkiff said after the game, "We had a lot of fly outs. Without runners on base we were not able to build on our early lead. We will have our work cut out for us tomorrow."

Moeltner took the loss to drop to 1-2 on the year. John Taylor threw two innings of scoreless ball in relief. Clocker picked up his second win of the year and Mark Siebel picked up a two-inning save for the Colonels.

The Eagles will not have long to dwell on the defeat as they travel to Wilkes-Barre tomorrow to finish the series with a doubleheader.