MADISON, N.J.– It was not easy. Eastern University Baseball picked up a critical MAC Freedom road-win in a wild 11-inning affair at FDU-Florham on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles scored five times in the top of the 11th for the 16-11 win. Senior right-fielder Angelo Kelly became the program-leader in hits and runs scored in the marathon win.

"This was an unbelievably gritty performance from the team today," Head Coach Jed Morris said after the game. "FDU is a very tough place to play. We knew they were not going to go away."

The Eagles scored three times in the top of the first to jump out to an early lead. Timmy Gorton, who was 4-for-6 on the game, doubled to drive in Craig Stanley, Andrew Boykin then singled home Kelly for his 119th career run. He moved in front of Scott Renauro '12, on the play. Freddy Yahn then doubled to plate Gorton for the 3-0 lead. The Eagles scored a single run in the second and another in the fourth. The Devils scored three in the fourth to close the gap to 5-4 before Jordan Laboy started a four-run rally with a one-out double in the fifth.

After Britton Lawrence lined out, Brady DiGiacomo was hit by a pitch and Craig Stanley drew a seven-pitch walk to load the bases. Shane Albertson drove in a run with an infield single before Kelly picked up his 169th career hit with a two-out two-RBI single up the middle. With that hit, he moved in front of Renauro and into first place on the career hit list. Gorton singled to drive in another run to put the Eagles up 9-4.

"Angelo has been such a steady competitor and consistent player his whole career," Morris said. "I'm proud of his record as a testimony of hard work and perseverance. He's got a lot left in the tank!

Freed battled into the sixth inning before giving way to Adam Perdue. The senior right-hander was charged with four earned runs in 5.1 innings. He struck out four hitters.

"That was a really gutsy performance from Freed," Morris said. "He was battling a bad blood-blister. He just competed the whole way."

Adam Perdue came on to get the Eagles out of the sixth with a 9-8 lead. He worked through the seventh and retired two hitters in the eighth before giving up an RBI triple that tied the game. Albertson walked from shortstop to the mound and struck out the first hitter he saw to keep the Devils from gaining the lead.

After the Eagles went quietly in the ninth, Albertson struck out the first two hitters he faced before walking a man and having another reach on an error. He got out of the jam by sneaking an 0-2 fastball across the plate for his fourth strikeout of the game.

DiGiacomo came up in the tenth with the bases loaded. The rookie outfielder fouled off four pitches before knocking the tenth pitch of the at-bat into right center to drive in a pair of runs and give the Eagles an 11-9 lead going into the bottom of the 10th.

The first two hitters reached off Albertson in the tenth before he struck out the next two hitters. After a player reached on a fielders choice, FDU junior first baseman Reynaldo Diaz singled to left-center to tie the game and put the winning run on third. Albertson struck out the final batter of the inning to send the game to the 11th.

"Shane had to throw a lot more than a closer should have to throw," Morris said. "He had his slider working." All seven of the FDU hitters that Albertson retired went down on strikes.

Kelly walked to start the rally and Gorton hit another double to drive him in. With his 3-RBI day, Gorton now has 28 for the year and is up to 92 RBI's in 91 career games. He is now tied for second in career RBI's with Joe Grato and Greg DeSarro.

With their closer done pitching, the Eagles needed to pile on more runs. After moving to third on a Kyle Daddario sacrifice bunt, Gorton scored on an error. Laboy, Lawrence, DiGiacomo, and Craig Stanley all reached safely before Albertson flied out to left with the Eagles leading 16-11. Lawrence and Laboy both finished the day 4-for-7, and DiGiacomo reached safely five times on three hits. All told, the bottom third of Eastern's order was 11-for-19 with seven runs and four RBI's.

Joe Clancy allowed a lead-off single in the 11th before retiring the next three hitters.

The Eagles (8-10, 4-3 MAC Freedom) will look to win their second MAC Freedom series of the year when they host the Devils for a doubleheader at The Yard tomorrow afternoon at 1:00.