ST. DAVIDS, Pa.- Sunday home doubleheaders are not the norm for Eastern University Baseball, but when rains early in the week and freezing temperatures left their home field unsafe for playing on Saturday, the Eagles hosted FDU-Florham in a Freedom Conference twin bill. Temperatures in the mid-30's suggested that the day could be a pitchers' duel, but in what turned out to be a theme for the day, what was expected was not what happened. After dropping the opener 12-4, Eastern rallied for a 16-15 win in the nightcap.

The visiting Devils controlled play from the outset in the opener. Glenn Cox kept the Eagles off balance and pitched from ahead in the count for six innings. FDU put Eastern starter Mike McNulty in the stretch early as they scored seven runs in the first four innings.

Steve Seminerio led off the game with a triple. The Devil shortstop went 4-5 and was a double short of the cycle by the end of the day. Matt Olivieto delivered the big blow of the opener with a fourth inning grand slam. With the breeze blowing out to left, Brandon Adams and Seminerio went back-to-back with two outs in the fifth. Seminerio's fly cleared the fence just a few feet inside the left-field line.

The Eagles picked up an unearned run in the 2nd and scratched out three runs after Devon Ziegenfuss and André Butler sandwiched doubles around a Mark Royer single to start the fifth. The Devils fought back with three in the sixth for the final margin.

At the outset, game two looked like it could be more of the same, as the Devils scored three unearned runs in the top of the first and led 4-0 midway through the third. 

The Eagles, playing with a juggled line-up scored a single unearned run in the third, and starter Jim Edelman settled into the game and worked efficiently to slow down the Devil offense. 

The Eastern offense found its feet in the 4th.The home side sent 11 batters to the plate and scored six runs. Royer delivered the only extra-base hit of the inning with a double down the right-field line. 

Oliveto hit his second homer of the day to lead off the fifth, and the next two players reached, but Edelman worked his way out of the jam and the Eagles came to the plate in the fifth up 7-5.

The Eagles picked up two runs in the fifth on a Joel Rios RBI single, but the Devils rallied with a pair in the top of the sixth. Adams chased Edelman with another home run and the visitors picked up another unearned run to close the game to 9-7.

The Eagles then blew the game open, or so it seemed, with a six run sixth. They scored all six runs before the first out of the inning. Butler delivered the big hit of the frame with a two-RBI double. 

A 15-7 lead, it turned out, was not a safe one. The Devils took advantage of a tight strike zone and some wildness on the part of the Eastern relievers to get runners on and in and a three-base error put the tying run on third with one out. Ryan Fandel knocked in the tying run with a double off reliever Kristian Cortizo, but Cortizo struck out the next batter and induced a tapper back to the mound to end the inning. 

Even the final play of the inning turned out to not be routine as Cortizo's throw to first required Royer, who had moved to first from the outfield , to extend fully to gather the high toss and drop a tag on the batter.

"Sticks [Royer] is getting it done," Head Coach Matt Midkiff said, "He has been hitting the ball and he plays every play. When that inning was going badly, we needed someone to make a play, and he made a huge one." Royer finished the second game 2-3 with three runs and a pair of RBIs.

Greg DeSarro led off the seventh with a double, and Dillon Schwartzer took his place at second. Schwartzer advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Ziegenfuss single.

"We showed some great fight after the first game," Midkiff said, "we did not have a lot in the first game, and when we went down 4-0 we needed something, it was great to see the guys put together a couple big innings. We have work to do to be sure, but there are things to be encouraged about in the second game."

The Eagles will finish the series at FDU tomorrow.