FORT PIERCE, Fla. - Eastern Baseball rallied in the top of the ninth inning before falling 8-7 to Hilbert College on Saturday morning who won on a walk-off single. This was the second time this week the Eagles have lost on a walk-off.
"This loss is a tough one to swallow," said Head Coach
Jed Morris. "We had some opportunities we couldn't take advantage of, and that hurt us today."
After a scoreless first three innings, Eastern (1-6) took a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning.
Timmy Gorton reached base on an error to give the Eagles a baserunner.
Joseph De Los Santos doubled the very next at bat scoring Gorton to give Eastern the 1-0 advantage. A single by
Joe Grato on the very next at-bat plated De Los Santos to stretch the lead to 2-0.
Hilbert (1-0) came right back in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 3-2 lead. A leadoff single and a fielding error two batters later gave Hilbert runners on first and second with one out. Joshua Maier doubled the very next at-bat plating one run to cut the deficit to 2-1. A single followed by a sacrifice fly on back-to-back at bats scored two runs to give the Hawks a 3-2 lead.
"It was great to get a lead, but we have to a better job of holding on to it," continued Morris. "We can't let teams come back after working to get a lead on them."
A two-run seventh inning by Hilbert stretched the lead to 5-2.
Angelo Kelly cut the deficit to 5-3 when he scored off an
Andrew Boykin double in the top of the eighth. The Hawks tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the eighth stretching their lead to 7-3 heading into the final inning.
A leadoff walk by Grato followed by
Nick Centeno reaching base safely on an error gave Eastern runners on first and second with no outs.
Craig Stanley doubled the very next at-bat scoring Grato to make the score 7-4. Grato scored the very next play after
Shane Albertson reached base safely on a fielding error to cut the deficit to 7-5. Albertson stole second to give the Eagles runners on second and third before Stanley stole home to make it 7-6. Albertson then scored to tie the game at 7-7 heading into the bottom of the ninth.
Ryan Bonafede led off the bottom half of the inning for Hilbert with a double. After recording two straight outs, Eastern was one out away from forcing extra innings. Maier, however, singled scoring Bonafede to deliver the 8-7 victory and handing the Eagles their second loss this week on a walk-off.
"Really proud of the way we battled back in the top of the ninth inning," stated Morris. "To score four runs and force them to earn a win is great to see. Give them credit they definitely earned the win today. We just need to learn from this game and get better; it's a long season."
Eastern travels to Washington College on March 9th at 3 pm.
