ST. DAVIDS, Pa. - Behind four home runs and a pair of strong offensive performances, Eastern Baseball (12-24, 5-9) recorded a pair of come-from-behind victories over MAC Commonwealth rival York on Saturday at The Yard. The Eagles scored five unanswered runs in game one to win 5-4, before erasing an early three-run deficit in game two to secure a 7-6 triumph.
"We were challenged this past week with some bad losses, but today, our guys focused back on what we needed to do and we were able to put it all together," Eastern Head Coach Scott Renauro said. "It was a good bounce-back today for the guys."
Matt McHale was the catalyst for the offense in Eastern's game one victory. The senior outfielder finished 3-for-3 on the day, which included two home runs in back-to-back innings, along with a pair of runs scored and three RBIs. Draig Cooley recorded a pair of doubles, while Connor Schilling collected his second home run of the season to give the Eagles the lead for good in the sixth inning.
"I think Matty has been feeling it a little bit this year, but to see his swings earlier on in the day and how locked in he was at the plate, you could tell he was going to have a big day," Renauro stated.
In his first home appearance of 2022, John Beck (1-3) pitched masterfully in relief. The sophomore righty threw six innings, finishing with six strikeouts and just three hits allowed.
After two scoreless frames to begin the contest, York struck first with four runs in the top of the third. The Eagles, however, began to find their offensive rhythm in the fourth. McHale began the Eastern rally with a solo shot to left field, which trimmed the York advantage to 4-1. In the fifth, Cooley scored on a York throwing error, before McHale's second bomb, this one a scorcher over the scoreboard in left field, tied the contest at 4-4.
On the first pitch he saw in the sixth inning, Schilling completed the Eagles' comeback. The sophomore from West Chester crushed the Eagles' third home run of the game over the left-center field wall, which gave the Eagles an advantage they would not relinquish. York made a final push in the ninth with a leadoff double and a batter reaching on a hit by pitch, but Beck finished the job, inducing three flyouts to secure the victory for Eastern.
York grabbed another early lead in game two with three runs in the second inning, but the Eagles answered with four runs in the bottom of the frame to take a 4-3 lead. Griffin Falco begin the rally with an RBI single, before David Hunsberger scored moments later on a wild pitch to trim York's advantage to 3-2. With two outs, first-year first basemen Austin Utterbaugh delivered with a two-run single, plating Falco and Jason Hall to put the Eagles ahead. David Hunsberger hit the Eagles' fourth home run of the afternoon in the third inning, and his fourth of the season, to increase Eastern's advantage to 5-3.
Eastern added a pair of runs in the sixth inning. Schilling scored on a York fielding error, before Cooley came home on a double steal. York again made it interesting, scoring three runs in the final three innings, but Sean Cottrell held down the fort to record his first save of the year.
Utterbaugh, Hunsberger, and Mark Cruser combined for six hits, three runs scored, and three RBIs in the win. Gavin Mikulski (2-3) earned his second win of the year, striking out three in six innings of work, while Cottrell gave up just three hits and one run in the final two frames.
Eastern will begin its final week of regular season play in Reading on Tuesday against the Albright Lions. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 pm.
