ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– After getting blanked, 14-0, in the opening game of today's home doubleheader against the league-leading York College Spartans (20-4, 15-3 MAC Commonwealth) Eastern University Baseball scored in seven of their eight at bats to stun the visitors with a come-from-behind 16-10 win. David Hunsberger hit two home runs and a double to drive in the first five runs of the game for the Eagles. 

In yesterday's doubleheader sweep at Widener, the Eagles took advantage of walks and wildness and threw in a few timely hits. Today, the Eagles hit the ball hard. The top five hitters in the order each had three hits as the Eagles pounded out a season-high 20 hits. 

The game did not, however, get off to a great start. The powerful York line-up scored four times in the first inning. After the 14-0 pounding the Eagles took in the opener, there was a sense that game two might be a variant on a theme. Hunsberger gave the Eagles some hope when he yanked a towering three-run shot over the right field fence to close the gap. 

The York offense picked off where it left off with five more runs in the the bottom of the second, and the Eagles did not have an answer despite putting two on in the bottom of the inning. 

Henry Hutchinson, who retired the final hitter in the second, set the Spartans down in order in the third, and Hunsberger followed a Micky Foytik double with a two-run shot to center. Two York runners reached against Hunsberger in the fourth but Brad Clemens and a Jeffrey Williams turned a double-play to put another zero on the board. 

When Matt McHale yanked a two-run home run just inside the fair pole in left, there was a sense in The Yard that something might be happening. As the game progressed, more students stopped by on their way back from class to watch, and the environment felt more and more like a non-2021 year. Williams made a sharp play on a sinking line drive to start the fifth and Hutchinson put up another zero in the inning. 

Hunsberger led off the bottom of the fifth with a drive to right that reached the fence for a double. Liam Clarke pulled a ball to the right side to advance Hunsberger to third with one out, but it looked like that the Eagles might put up their second scoreless inning when Clemens ripped a shot right to the pitcher for the second out of the inning. Jason Hall pulled a single through the left side to bring the Eagles to within a run with four innings left. 

The Spartans opened the sixth with a single down the left field line and a sacrifice bunt. They then smacked two balls to the deepest parts of the The Yard for noisy outs. McHale made a great catch in center for the second out and Hunsberger tracked a ball deep into the alley in right center to retire the side. 

Shane Albertson hit a ball into the gap in left-center for a double to lead off the sixth. Connor Schilling coaxed a walk and McHale singled through the left side to drive in the tying run. After Foytik flied out to the deepest part of tithe Yard, Liam Clarke  put the Eagles up with a high fly ball to deep left field.

After the first two hitters reached against Hutchinson in the seventh, Steve Sattanino came on for his second appearance in two days. The senior right hander allowed one inherited runner to score but left the bases loaded at the stretch.

Williams led off the Eastern seventh with an infield hit and moved to third when Albertson beat out a bunt. Schilling put the Eagles with his second hit of the game. The first year left-fielder finished game two with three hits and two walks. McHale moved the two runners into scoring position with good bunt and Foytik hit a ball to the fence in right-center to put the Eagles up three. He advanced to third on a fly ball to the warning track by Hunsberger and scored on a wild pitch and throwing error. 

Sattanino pitched a 1-2-3 eighth and the Eagles tacked on two more runs with tow outs in the bottom of the inning. Williams, hitting in the ninth spot in the order started the rally. His ground ball up the middle slipped just over the bag and under the glove of the shortstop for his first career three-hit day. Albertson then hit a ball off the base of the fence in left for an RBI double. Schilling drove in Albertson for the final Eastern run.

Sattanino worked around a two-out walk in the ninth to throw another scoreless inning and earn his second win in the last two days. 

"We had a huge relief outing from Henry Hutchinson," Head Coach Scott Renauro said of the game. "He and Sattanino are both coming back from injuries. Hutchinson kept us in that game until the offense came. Hunsberger had a really good game and has made really nice adjustments at the plate. All year, we have been stranding runners in scoring position. We were loose in the second game and didn't let the situation get too big. We made things happen. We had the big hits, but we also hit behind runners, executed sacrifice bunts, and ran the bases well enough to win. The guys who came in to close out the second game did well in the field and on the mound."

The Eagles fell behind 11-0 after two and a half innings in the opener, and Renauro made wholesale changes to get several of the players who had played 15 innings at Widener yesterday out of the game. 

"We looked like we had just played a seven-hour doubleheader yesterday," Renauro said. "When the jumped to that big lead, we needed to use that to get some guys experience and to start fresh in the second game. Carter Cranmer and Jin Lee were able to get opportunity to face a good line-up. They got us through the final four innings. 

The Eagles (7-14, 6-8 MAC Commonwealth) are at York for two more games tomorrow. The Eagles will avoid the 8-9 play-in game with any combination of a win against York or a Widener win over Hood. Hood swept Widener today in Frederick. The two teams play a doubleheader tomorrow in Chester. The Eagles would need to sweep tomorrow's doubleheader to move ahead of Messiah into the sixth spot.