YORK, Pa. - In one of its most complete games of the season to date, Eastern Baseball used another strong showing offensively, a brilliant performance from Sean Cottrell on the mound, and six late insurance runs to beat the York College Spartans 9-5 at Jaquet Field to open its second conference series. The Eagles scored a pair of runs in the first inning and never trailed, improving to 3-1 in MAC Commonwealth play. 

"We had a great team day overall," Eastern Head Coach Scott Renauro said. "We played defense, had really sound approaches at the plate, and outstanding pitching." 

At the dish, Eastern came away with 14 hits, and four Eagles finished with three hits apiece. Senior Garrett Friend set the tone, going 3-for-4 with a two-run double. Fellow senior Evan Barks also finished 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI, while sophomore Thomas Kozlusky and first-year Robert Del Buono combined for six hits, seven runs scored, and two RBIs. 

Cottrell (4-1) continued his stout season on the mound with another outstanding outing. The Glassboro, N.J. native pitched seven strong frames, allowing just four hits and one earned run on 96 pitches. The senior finished with three strikeouts, 10 flyouts, and seven groundouts in his team-leading fourth win of the campaign. 

"Sean had everything working today," Renauro continued. "Our game plan was to attack their lineup with everything and he did that for seven innings."

The Eagles took a lead they would not relinquish in the first frame. Kozlusky and Del Buono began the contest with back-to-back singles, and Barks successfully advanced both runners on a sacrifice bunt to third base. Friend, who has found his groove at the plate as of late, remained red-hot, doubling to right field to plate Eastern's first two runs of the ball game. 

York got a run back in the fourth, but Eastern responded with a run of its own in the fifth frame. With runners at the corners with two outs, the Eagles executed a double steal, and while Barks was thrown out, Del Buono crossed home plate first to put Eastern ahead 3-1. 

The Spartans cut the lead to 3-2 in the fifth, but Cottrell responded with a 1-2-3 sixth, setting the stage for an offensive outburst for the Eagles in the seventh. After a walk to Connor Schilling, the Eagles recorded four straight hits to increase their advantage to 6-2. Kozlusky drove in the first run on an RBI double to left field, Barks drove in the second run on an infield RBI single, and Justin DiCesare plated Eastern's third tally with an RBI single, also to left field. Pinch hitter Trent Macdougall capped off the scoring with a sacrifice fly to center field 

Eastern added two more runs in the ninth on an RBI double from Del Buono down the right field line and a York fielding error. York pushed back with three runs in the eighth and ninth frames, but first-year Brennan Moloughney and sophomore John Westfield kept the lead intact. 

"It's always good to get the first win of the series," Renauro said. "But our guys are excited and ready to play the rest of it tomorrow." 

With inclement weather in the forecast for Saturday, Eastern's (9-7, 3-1) home doubleheader against the Spartans has been moved up to tomorrow afternoon. First pitch at The Yard is scheduled for 12 noon.