FORT PIERCE, Fla.– Eastern University Baseball was unable to get out of a fifth inning jam and dropped a 23-10 decision to the Hilbert College Eagles. The Eagles gave up eight unearned runs in the fifth inning and 15 unearned runs overall in the loss and dropped to 3-3 on the year.

The Eastern Eagles came into their sixth game in six days knowing that they would need several pitchers. Ryan Kehr struck out eight Hilbert batters through four innings. The senior right-hander hit his pitch limit and handed off the game with the score tied 4-4. Tommy Strazza retired the first tow batters he faced in the top of the fifth. The third batter reached on an error, and everything went sideways from there for the Eastern Eagles.

Hilbert scored eight times in on four hits in the inning. Adam Perdue came on to get the final out of the inning.

Eastern got two of those runs back in the bottom of the inning on a Kyle Daddario double, but Hilbert scored four times in the sixth.

Shane Albertson and Timmy Gorton picked up RBI's in the bottom of the sixth, but the Eastern Eagles trailed 16-8 by the time the smoke cleared. The RBI was the 11th of the year for Gorton, sho doubled in a pair of runs in the first inning. He fiinshed with three RBI's on the day. Gorton is hitting a team-best .480 through the first six games. The junior catcher had 37 RBI in his sophomore season, which was tied for the second highest single-season total in program history.

Hilbert tacked on two runs in the seventh and five in the eighth, and the Eagles scored single tallies in the eighth and ninth. Brady DiGiacomo doubled in Gorton in the eighth and Shane Albertson drove in Daddario in the ninth.

Eastern (3-3) flies home this evening and will play at Cabrini on Wednesday. It will be an historic first meeting between the two neighboring schools.