CARY, N.C.– Senior
Ryan Kehr threw six innings of one-hit ball, to lead Eastern University Baseball to a 6-2 win in the first game of a doubleheader at WIlliam Peace University. The Eastern offense never got on track in a 4-1 loss in the second game.
The Eagles scored in four of their first five innings to open the 2017 season. Senior leadoff man
Angelo Kelly scored runs in the first and second inning. Kelly tied Eastern's single-season mark for runs scored with 44 in 2016. He scored his 99th and 100th career runs in the first two innings.
Kelly started the two-run first with a single to left field. He scored on
Timmy Gorton's one-out double down the right field line. Gorton advanced to third on a ground out and scored on an infield hit from
Britton Lawrence. The RBI single by the freshman outfielder was the first of five two-out RBI's in the game.
Kehr walked the leadoff man in the bottom of the first. The Pacers did not get another baserunner until M. Anerton broke up Kehr's no-hit bid with two outs in the bottom of the fifth. Kehr retired 18 of the 20 hitters he faced and did not allow a runner to reach second.
The Eastern offense gave Kehr more than enough run support with another two runs in the second and one more in the third. Kelly walked to start a two-out rally in the second inning. Sophomore second baseman
Shane Albertson tripled to left to bring Kelly home. Gorton singled to knock in Albertson.
Craig Stanley knocked in
Kyle Daddario with a two-out single in the third. Stanley also delivered a two-out hit in the fifth to drive in Lawrence for a 6-0 lead.
The Pacers (5-10) scored a pair of runs in the seventh, but
Jarrid Kosa got the final batter to pop out to preserve the win.
Tommy Strazza started on the hill for game two. The junior right-hander allowed just one earned run through five innings but took the loss. The Eagles put runners in scoring position in five of the first six innings, but the two-out hits that came so plentifully in the opener were not to be found in game two. Eastern's only run came in the third when Kelly, who tripled, scored on a long fly ball by Albertson.
The Pacers scored a single run in the fourth and picked up two unearned runs in the fifth. for what would prove to be the difference.
Josh Freed gave up a single run in an inning of relief.
"Our pitchers looked focused and did a good job throwing strikes and attacking," Eastern Head Coach
Jed Morris said of his team's effort. "Overall, a lot of what I saw today was promising. This is a determined team. Our hitters looked comfortable in the box."
Morris was also pleased with the work that Gorton and freshman catcher
Freddy Yahn did behind the plate. The Eagles were at a little bit of a disadvantage playing a team with 13 games under its belt in their opener. The playing field will be leveled a bit in Florida when Eastern will play two teams from New York and a team from Minnesota.
Eastern takes on Houghton on Wednesday at 1 pm.
