ASTON, Pa. - Behind some late game heroics from first-year catcher JJ Matos, a pair of triples from junior Leyton Bamesberger, and strong pitching in the late game, Eastern Baseball began its 2025 season with a two-game spilt against the Penn State York Lions at MSI. The Eagles rallied from a four-run deficit with a pair of runs in the fourth and sixth frames, and with the bases loaded, Matos hit a single up the middle to score Brian Lang and seal the Eagles' 5-4 victory.

Sophomore Graham Adams was excellent on the bump for the Eagles in the first three innings, striking out the side in the first and recording three more punchouts in the second and third. The Lions were able to strike first in the fourth frame, scoring all four of their runs in the inning. A single and an error in the outfield scored three runs, and Penn State York added one more on an RBI single to take a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the fourth.

The Eagles began to push back in their half of the fourth. After David Sharp led off the inning with a single, Bamesberger roped a triple to left field, scoring Sharp in the process, to make it a 4-1 game. Two batters later, sophomore Robert Del Buono recorded his first RBI of the season with a single to plate Bamesberger and cut the Penn State York lead in half.

Junior Zackary Bollinger entered the game in the fifth inning and pitched a scoreless frame with a pair of strikeouts, and first-year lefty Brady Bollman followed with a scoreless sixth in his Eastern debut.

Trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the sixth, Bamesberger hit his second triple in as many at-bats, this time to right field, to score Thomas Kozlusky, and with two outs, junior Luke Meehan worked a bases-loaded walk to plate Bamesberger, setting up Matos' game-winner in the seventh.

Senior Brian Lang ate a pitch to reach first to begin the seventh inning, before graduate Logan Klember laid down a perfect bunt to runners at first and second with nobody out. Fellow graduate Joe Paradise followed with a sacrifice bunt to advance both runners, and after a Bamesberger walk, Matos made an early impression, roping one up the middle to score Lang and secure Eastern's comeback victory.

"Coming in cold is never easy when it's early on in the year, We had guys running, moving positions, and needing to execute. JJ did well not letting the situation get too big and put a really good swing on a two-strike pitch tp stay through the middle and end the game.'"

Bamesberger finished 2-for-3 with his pair of triples in game two, while Meehan, Sharp, Del Buono, Klember, Matos, and Trent MacDougall each finished with one. Adams put together a strong start, going four strong innings with four hits allowed, just two earned runs, and eight strikeouts. Bollinger, Bollman, Brayden Goss, and Dylan Labukas (1-0) combined to give up just one hit in the final three frames.

Eastern scored the first two runs in the opener on a a two-run single from junior Justin DiCesare, but the Lions scored 10 unanswered runs, which included a nine-spot in the fifth frame, to eventually win the game 10-4. The Lions scored their 10 runs on six hits and one Eastern error. The Eagles scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh, but would not get any closer.

"We started off the day pitching well. Unfortunately, a few mistakes led to their big inning," Renault continued. "Offensively, we did not capitalize with runners on base, so that will be a focal point in practice."

Eastern will play one more game before going on Spring Break during the first week of March. The Eagles will host Swarthmore at 3 pm at MSI.