Box Score
WEST LAWN, Pa.—Eastern University Baseball stunned the
top-seeded DeSales University Bulldogs in game one of the Freedom Conference
Tournament on Thursday afternoon.
Making their first conference tournament appearance since
2001, the fourth-seeded Eagles slipped past the Bulldogs 11-10. The Eagles broke the game
open with seven runs in the top of the seventh, but DeSales clawed back to tie
the game in the bottom of the eighth. Tommy Strazza, who had been charged with
the tying run as a relief pitcher in the eighth, came through at the plate in the
top of the ninth with an RBI-single to right center that scored the go-ahead
run.
Center fielder Andrew Check took the hill in the ninth and
retired the Bulldogs in order to earn the save.
Leadoff batter Angelo Kelly set the tone from the top of the
lineup with a game-high 4-for-6 day at the plate. Timmy Gorton and Eric Rossi
also had multi-hit games, going 3-for-5. The Eagles out-hit the Bulldogs 15-11
and had six of those hits in the breakout seventh inning.
The last time Eastern faced DeSales ace Steven Wallace,
Wallace tossed a complete-game shutout. Wallace exited after three innings on
Friday after allowing one run on two hits, two walks and two hit batters.
Eagles' starter Ryan Kehr went six innings with four runs allowed, no walks,
six hits and four strikeouts.
DeSales picked up a run in the first and second innings. The
Eagles earned a run in the third on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch, but ended up
leaving the bases full without doing any more damage. Eastern added another run
in the fourth to tie the game at 4-4. Check doubled and reached third on a sac
bunt by Mike McCracken. Kelly then beat out an infield single and Check dashed
home.
The Bulldogs took the lead in the sixth with two runs, but
ended the inning with a pop-fly double play. After Check made the catch in
center, the runner on second failed to tag up.
After catching that break, Eastern led off the seventh with
back-to-back singles by Ryan McMenamin and Timmy Gorton. After those two
lefties picked up hits, Eagles' head coach Jed Morris made the bold decision to
pinch hit lefty Andrew Boykin for right-handed cleanup hitter Joe Grato.
The move paid off as Boykin doubled the 1-0 pitch into right center to score
both McMenamin and Gorton. Gorton slid in to beat the tag at the plate.
The Eagles took the lead as the next batter, Rossi, smashed
a double off the wall in right field.
Rossi later scored on a fielder's choice. Angelo Kelly knocked in a run
with a hit shy of first base and beat it out as no one was covering first. With
two outs in the inning, Gorton picked up his second hit of the inning, bringing
in two runs with a single through the left side.
Both DeSales and Eastern added a run in their next frame.
Eastern led 10-5 after catcher Zach Quast tripled and then darted home on a
wild pitch.
Eastern's five-run lead evaporated in the bottom of the
eighth as DeSales scored five runs off relievers Nick Centeno and Tommy
Strazza.
In the top of the ninth, Gorton doubled with one out on the
first pitch he saw. Boykin struck out for the second out of the inning, and
with first base open, DeSales intentionally walked the senior Rossi to go after
Strazza, the freshman. Strazza, who had been 0-for-3 on the day, made the
Bulldogs pay. Strazza poked a single to right center that scored Gorton and
proved to be the winning run.
Check sealed the deal in the ninth with his third save of
the year. Each batter of the inning worked a full count, but Check sent them
down with a ground out, pop out and strike out looking.
With the win on day one of the double-elimination
tournament, Eastern moves on to the 4 p.m. game on Friday against Misericordia University.
Box Score
