WILKES-BARRE, Pa.– Eastern University Baseball overcame a late rally by the hosts to earn an 11-10 extra-inning win at Wilkes University to earn a split in the MAC Freedom doubleheader. Wilkes scored six late runs to win the opener 6-0 and rallied with five runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the nightcap, 9-9. Matt McHale hit a two-out solo home run in the eighth that proved to be the difference.

How It Happened:

The Eagles scored first on a two-run single from Brad Clemens in the second, but the Colonels answered with two in the bottom of the frame. Brady DiGiacomo homered and Kyle Daddario scored on a Liam Clarke sacrifice fly to build a 4-2 lead for starter Jacob Breyer.

Nick Capozzi homered in the bottom of the third before the Eagles grabbed two more runs in the fourth. Britton Lawrence drove in one with a bases-loaded walk and DiGiacomo knocked in Jordan Laboy with a sacrifice fly. Breyer worked around a lead-off single to deliver a shut-down inning in the bottom of the fourth.

The Eastern lead grew to 7-3 after Clarke led off the fifth with a triple and scored on a single by McHale. Breyer allowed a run on back-to-back doubles in the fifth. He escaped without further damage and struck out the final batter he faced.

The Eagles left two in scoring position in the sixth and Tyler Bennett came on in relief. The sophomore southpaw worked around a hit and a walk with a pair of strikeouts to throw a scoreless sixth. When Lawrence deleivered a two-out, two-RBI double in the seventh, the Eastern lead grew to 9-4.

The Colonels chipped away in seventh and plated the tying run with two outs in the inning. Steve Sattanino, who retired the final two Colonels in the opener, came on in relief after Shane Albertson started the inning. The Colonels had the winning run in scoring position when Sattanino retired the final batter of the inning on a pop up.

Daddario capped a six-pitch at bat with a 3-2 single to center to start the Eastern rally in the eighth. Clarke laid down a perfect sacrifce bunt to move Daddario into scoring position. Zach Belansek then yanked a ground ball down the third base line to score Daddario. Belansek, however, was thrown out at second on the play. McHale then jumped on a 2-1 pitch for his first career home run.

That run proved to be critical when the Colonels built another rally in the eighth. Sattanino retired Capozzi to lead off the inning, but the sophomore right-hander ran into issues when the next two hitters reached on a walk and an error. The Colonels scored their tenth run on another error after Sattanino picked up the second out of the inning with a strikeout. The Colonels had the tying run on second when Sattanino struck out the final batter of the game.

The Eagles had 14 hits in the second game.

Mickey Foytik held the Colonels off the board for the first four innings of the opener. The Eagles however mustered only four soft singles in the game. The Colonels picked up the only runs they would need with a pair of runs on three singles in the fifth. They added four more runs in the sixth for the final margin.

Coach Renauro Says:
"Our hitters struggled making the adjustments off their lefty in game one. He did a nice job mixing in his change-up, and we did not recognize it and made a lot of soft contact. Mickey kept us in it.  A few miscues in the field opened up the game.

"We did a lot better of a job with our approach in the second game. We were able to make the pitcher work a little harder,  and we were able to get into their bullpen. Liam Clarke had a great day all around. He came up with multiple hits and had a pair of sacrifice plays as well. We have been harping on doing the small things right."

"We didn't finish the game like we wanted to, but the guys showed resiliency to bounce back after the bad seventh inning. A gutsy performance by Steve to close out the game."

Up Next:
The coming week sets up as a huge one for the Eagles (4-12, 2-2 MAC Freedom). The Eagles are slated to finish the series with Wilkes at The Yard on Tuesday. Then after a midweek game against a nationally-ranked Swarthmore squad, the Eagles will start a series against Misericordia with a game in Dallas on Friday. The Eagles will host Misericordia in a doubleheader on Saturday and complete their season-opening series against Manhattanville on Sunday.