ST. DAVIDS, Pa.–Andrew Boykin hit a first-inning grand slam to put Eastern University Baseball up early, and the bullpen slowed a powerful Lancaster Bible line-up on the way to a 10-6 non-league win. Timmy Gorton also hit his first home run of the year to plate a pair of insurance runs in the eighth.

Jay Crawford went 4.2 innings in his first career start. The freshman right-hander had a tough task for his home debut. The Chargers (7-4) came into today's game with five hitters hitting .421 or better. Crawford retired the first two hitters he faced before LBC had a pair of well placed ground-balls to start a two-out rally. Andrew Cohick lined a pitch into left to drive in a run, but Crawford escaped further damage on a soft line-drive to left.

"I was happy with Jay," Head Coach Jed Morris said of his freshman pitcher. "He loked exactly like he does in his bullpens. He was unfazed by the spotlight."

Brady DiGiacomo walked to lead off the inning and eventually scored on soft double down the right field line by Freddy Yahn. Eastern's freshman designated hitter was 2-for-5 with two RBI's. His two hardest hit balls, however, turned into outs on great plays from LBC outfielders later in the game.

The rally continued as Gorton reached on an error and Jordan Laboy was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Boykin was 2-for-4 with the bases loaded this year. He fouled off the first pitch he saw and then took another couple pitches before driving a pitch on the outer-half over the center-field fence. The senior first baseman finished 2-for-4 on the afternoon.

"A big difference in the game for us," Morris said, "is that we took advantage of the guys that got on without getting hits, and our pitchers made them get hits to score."

The Eagles stretched the lead to 8-1 with three more runs in the second inning. DiGiacomo again started the rally with a walk. The freshman outfielder kept his on-base-percentage over .600 with two more walks. He has 17 walks in 12 games. Angelo Kelly also walked and the pair stole second and third with Yahn at the plate. Yahn slapped a single to right-center to drive in DiGiacomo. Kelly then scored from third on a Gorton sacrifice fly to right.

Britton Lawrence drove in the final run of the inning on a double off the top of the center field fence. His drive was only inches short of being his first career home run.

Crawford worked through the LBC line-up before running into trouble in the fifth. He nearly made a  great play off the mound on bunt single to lead off the inning, but his off-balance throw pulled Boykin off the bag as the runner crossed the bag. He retired the next hitter before Justin Taylor reached on an error. He left a pitch over the middle of the plate to William Welsh, and the LBC outfielder did not miss the mistake. He drove the ball over the center field fence for his fifth home run of the season.

Crawford bounced back to strike out the next hitter to end his day. Adam Perdue came on to get the last out of the inning.

Perdue did not allow a run in 2.1 innings to earn the win.

"Adam did a great job locating his off-speed pitches," Morris said after the game. "That's big for him. That allows him to get ahead and to get guys out." Perdue allowed a pair of infield hits in his outing.

Neither team scored until the Chargers scratched out a run against Joe Clancy in the eighth. Clancy gave up three hits, but only one of the three came on hard contact. He escaped the jam with a strikeout on a good off-speed pitch with a runner on.

Gorton's blast cleared the right field fence and drove in Kelly. It was Kelly's second run of the day and 114th of his career. He is four runs short of tying Scott Renauro for the Eastern program record. It is the first ball hit into the Eastern bullpen since the fence was built last year.

Shane Albertson came on to close. He gave up three hits in the inning, but Morris was pleased with his command and noted that none of the three hits was hit particularly hard. Nonetheless, Albertson faced the tying run with two outs. The sophomore right-hander escaped the jam with a strikeout on a good fastball on the outside corner.

The Eagles are scheduled to host Wilkes for a single game on Friday. With heavy rains predicted, that game could be moved. Check goeasterneagles.com or follow @EUEagles on Twitter for up-to-date schedule information.