SWARTHMORE, Pa. - Trailing by five runs heading into the fifth frame, Eastern Baseball's furious rally came up one run short in a seven-inning, 11-10 loss to the Swarthmore Garnet on Tuesday at Clothier Field. The Garnet led 8-3 after the fourth inning, but the Eagles scored seven unanswered runs in the fifth, sixth, and seventh frames. Eastern, however, could not complete the comeback, as the potential winning runs were stranded on second and third. 

Sophomore Matthew Gonglik recorded an excellent outing at the dish with three hits in three at-bats, which included a pair of doubles, and an RBI. The Eagles finished with 12 hits in the contest. Junior left fielder Thomas Kozlusky recorded three hits in four at-bats. Justin DiCesare drove in three runs on hit, while Trent MacDougall, Luke Meehan, JJ Matos, and Leyton Bamesberger each finished with one knock apiece. 

After a quick 1-2-3 frame for the Eagles to start the contest, the Garnet scored five runs in the first inning to take a lead they would not relinquish. Swarthmore scored their runs on a pair of RBI singles, a bases-loaded walk, and a hit batsman with bases loaded. 

Eastern struck back with three runs of its own in the top of the second frame. Gonglik led off the frame with his first double of the evening to left-center, and first-year catcher JJ Matos, fresh off his game-winning hit in the second game against Penn State York, ripped a double to right-center field to score Gonglik and put the Eagles on the board. Later in the frame, junior second baseman Leyton Bamesberger drove in Matos with a triple to right-center. It is the Broomfield, Colorado's third triple in Eastern's last two games. Bamesberger would go on to score on a Swarthmore fielding error, and the Eagles trailed 5-3 heading to the bottom of the second. 

The Garnet, however, would extend their lead, scoring a run in the third and two more in the fourth to build a 11-3 advantage heading into the fifth. 

The Eagles begin to push back in the top half of the fifth. After a David Sharp walk, a Gonglik single, and after both runners advanced on a groundout, DiCesare drove in his first run of the night on a sacrifice fly to make it 11-4.

Despite two walks and a hit batsman, sophomore relief pitcher Joe Juliano escaped a jam in the bottom of the fifth, recording all three outs via the strikeout, which included back-to-back K's to end the inning. Eastern went on to have its biggest offensive inning of the game, scoring four runs in the top of the sixth. Kozlusky started the frame with a single to right-center, before advancing to second on a wild pitch. MacDougall walked, and junior Luke Meehan ripped an RBI single to center to score Kozlusky. MacDougall used strong baserunning to score on a strikeout, and DiCesare plated both Gonglik and Meehan with a two-run single to left field, cutting the deficit to 11-8.

Cody Bergeron pitched a nearly pitched a scoreless sixth, picking out his first two collegiate strikeouts, and the Eastern offense went right back to work in the top of the seventh. Back-to-back singles from Brian Lang and Kozlusky put runners on first and second, and Lang later scored on a wild pitch. Gonglik's third hit of the night was an RBI double down the first-base line, scoring Kozlusky to make it 11-10 and put runners on second and third with two outs. However, a strikeout to end the inning thwarted Eastern's comeback, and the game was called due to darkness. 

"We competed really well today," Eastern Head Coach Scott Renauro said. "The way our bullpen came in and competed, I am proud of their outing. Our hitters stayed composed against a very solid Swarthmore staff. We showed all facets of our offense today by bunting, stealing, and hitting a few gaps. A loss is a loss, but competing after going down early against a good team really showed the character this team has." 

In the final four innings, Bergeron, Juliano, Brady Bollman, and Ethan Gwara combined to allow just three hits and two earned runs while recording eight strikeouts. 

Eastern will be back on the road Saturday for a doubleheader against the Mules of Muhlenberg. First pitch is scheduled for 12 noon.