GRANTHAM, Pa.—Eastern University Baseball, playing shorthanded, had to get creative with its lineup on Monday afternoon at Messiah College. The experiment worked and the Eagles beat the Falcons in a wild 13-12 game.

Eastern outscored the Messiah Falcons 6-5 in the ninth inning to hang on for the win.

The Eagles' lineup experiment featured only three regular starters in the field; it produced 16 hits, but four errors in the field. The mix-up was noticeable from the first batter. Eric Rossi, who typically bats in the five-hole, batted as the leadoff man and went 3-for-6 there. Fellow senior Ryan McMenamin stayed in the two-hole, but moved over to second base and batted 3-for-5. Joe Grato batted third while playing DH. He went 2-for-6 from the plate. [View the box score to see the rest of the lineup shake-up.]

Ryan Ellison got the start and hurled 4.1 innings. Jarrid Kosa and Tyler Sterkenburg went for the next 2.0 innings and Josh Freed closed out the final 2.2 innings. Freed threw strong in the seventh and eighth but got into a jam in the ninth. The Falcons tagged Freed for five runs in the ninth, but Freed was able to work out of the jam and end the game with the win.

The Eagles fell behind 5-0 after allowing a grand slam in the second, but scored five runs in the top of the fourth on four hits and two errors to tie the game. Rossi and McMenamin had RBI-singles in the inning. Messiah regained the lead with an RBI-triple in the top of the fourth, but Eastern's Jake Bunjo brought in a run with a single to right in the fifth. Cal Sanelli scored on the play, but Craig Stanley was gunned down at home.

The Falcons again went ahead by a run in the sixth, but Eastern responded with a run in the eighth on an outfield error to tie the game. The Eagles' offense exploded in the top of the ninth for six runs on five hits and help from two Falcons' errors. Stanley knocked in two runs with a triple and then was brought home by a Pete Crawford single. The Eagles later scored two runs on an error and then scored what proved to be the winning run when Grato doubled to right center to score McMenamin. 

Eastern seemed to have the game in the bag, until the Falcons scored five runs (three earned) in the inning. The Eagles weathered the onslaught and hung on for the 13-12 win.

Eastern plays at Lebanon Valley College on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.

Box Score