MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.-One day after falling to the No. 4 team
in the country, Eastern University Baseball saw another top team at the
Ripken Experience. The Manchester University Spartans (6-0) scored five
runs in the sixth inning to grab the lead, and they held on for an 11-6
win. Eastern shortstop Dillon Schwartzer had a pair of hits and three
RBIs to lead the Eagles (0-3) to their best offensive outing of the
young season.
Manchester opened the season in the conversation for
national rankings in a variety of polls, and they have done nothing to
this point to remove themselves from that conversation. Playing in their
third day in Myrtle Beach the Spartans entered this morning's game with
43 runs scored and four wins.
Eastern starter Lucas Bremmerman
kept the Manchester offense to only one hit per inning in the first
three, but the side from Indiana took advantage of a couple hit batsmen
and a walk to build a 3-0 lead through four innings. The offense did not
scratch out a run through four innings, but that was in part to a
couple outstanding defensive efforts from the Spartans. Spartan
rightfielder Bryce Murphy went over the fence with a foul ball to put
out Ryan McMenamin in the third, and center fielder Austin Rieke threw
out Tyler Orr trying to score on a long fly ball in the fourth. Orr had
doubled and advanced to third on a passed ball.
The Eastern
offense came to life in the fifth. After Marcus Sistrun walked, Brendan
Spall tripled to left center. After Angelo Kelly beat out a high chopper
to short, Schwartzer cracked a sharp single to left to bring the Eagles
within one. After Greg DeSarro walked, Joe Grato singled to drive in
one run and a fourth run then scored on a wild pitch to put the Eagles
up 4-3.
The Spartans grabbed the lead back with a pair of runs in
the bottom of the inning, but the Eagles responded with a two-out rally
to start the sixth. McMenamin beat out a ground ball to first, and then
Kelly reached on error. While the play was correctly ruled an error,
Kelly's quickness and hustle made the play much tougher. The two Eastern
baserunners then moved into scoring position with a double steal.
Schwartzer
fell behind in the count, but the junior captain shortened up and
slapped a single to right to plate the pair and put the Eagles up 6-5.
Greg DeSarro walked to keep the inning going before Grato grounded out.
The
Spartan offense took advantage of a pair of walks and a hit batsmen to
plate five runs on three hits in the bottom of the 6th to grab a 10-6
lead.
After getting out of the sixth, Jordan Miller pitched a
scoreless seventh with some help from a stellar bare-handed play from
Schwartzer on a slow chopper. Anthony Messina struck out the side in the
eighth to keep the Eagles within five going to the last inning.
The
Eagles loaded the bases with no one out, but the Spartans brought Bryce
Murphy in from right field to close the game. Murphy's array of
off-speed pitches proved to be enough to keep the Eagles from bringing
the tying run to the plate.
Eastern is back in action tomorrow evening at the Ripkin Experience with a 6 pm game against PSU-Harrisburg.
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