DOYLESTOWN,Pa.--Going into this weekend, the Eastern baseball team needed several things to happen to qualify for the Freedom Conference Tournament for the first time in program history. While several of those things involved other teams and were out of the players' hands, the one thing that Eagles knew was that they would have to do was to sweep Delaware Valley University in a three-game series with the  doubleheader on the road. The Eagles had not swept a league series since they took three from Del Val in April of 2010.

With their backs to the wall, the Eagles took the nine-inning home game Friday, and came back to sweep the doubleheader in Doylestown Saturday 9-4 and 4-1. After claiming Friday's game behind the pitching efforts of a pair of freshmen, Coach Morris handed the ball to Austin Little and Ryan Kehr for games two and three of the series.  Little went the distance in the game one win, and Kehr finished the league regular season with an absolute gem. He scattered four hits and allowed only one earned run to pick up the complete game win.

Approximately 90 minutes after the end of the Eastern vs. Del Val series, DeSales scored four times in the bottom of the sixth to erase a 6-5 deficit. The Bulldogs held on for the 9-6 win. For once, everything that had to happen in the final week, did. As the Bulldogs have all but locked up the top spot in the tournament, the Eagles will likely have to go from rooting for DeSales to trying to beat them.

In game two, the Eagles got all the offense they would need in a three-run first. Angelo Kelly walked to lead off the inning and scored on Timmy Gorton's single up the middle. Gorton came around to score on Joe Grato's first career triple, and then Grato trotted home on an Eric Rossi sacrifice fly to deep center field. Coming into today, Gorton and Rossi were each 22-for-46 over the last 13 games. Gorton only went 1-for-6 on the afternoon, but he scored once and batted in three. Rossi went 2-for-7 with 3 RBIs and a run scored.

The Eagles picked up an insurance run in the second on a bases-loaded walk from Gorton, and Kehr did the rest. Only two Aggies touched third base in the game. Kyle Wenger led off the fourth with a home run to center field for the lone Aggie run and the Aggies put two runners on a hit and a two out error in the bottom of the seventh. Kehr induced a fly-out for his third complete game this year.

In the first game, Little gave up a two-run home run in the first, but the Eastern offense gave the senior lefty plenty of run support. Andrew Check drove in a run in the second and then the Eagles put a six on the scoreboard in the third. 

Tommy Strazza and Kelly reached on a pair of singles to start the big third inning. Ryan McMenamin reached on an error trying to move the runners over and Strazza scored on the play.  Kelly scored on a Gorton ground out and McMenamin came home on a Grato single. Rossi then blasted his second triple of the series to drive in Grato. Rossi scored the fifth run of the inning on Craig Stanley's third double of the year. Stanley scored the final run of the inning on an error.

The Aggies grabbed two back in the home half of the third, but Little shut the door the rest of the way to put the Eagles where they needed to be going into the third game of the series.

After the conclusion of the game, the Eagles again gathered around their phones to follow the progress of the Wilkes vs. DeSales game. FDU-Florham had lost earlier in the day and was therefore eliminated. Wilkes had held leads in each of the three games of the series.

The Eagles, who started the year 0-7, won four conference series and equaled their program-best 10 wins in conference play which was set in 2001 and matched in 2010. The Eagles finish tied with Wilkes on record, but earn the spot in the Freedom Tournament based on their series win over the Colonels.

Game One Box Score

Game Two Box Score