CHESTER, Pa. - Eastern Baseball wrapped up its first conference weekend of the season with a pair of losses to the Widener Pride. The Eagles (5-9, 0-3) held a 7-3 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth, but the Pride (8-6, 3-0) answered with five runs in their half of the frame, before winning 9-8 on a walk-off bases loaded walk. The Pride completed the weekend sweep with a 14-10 victory in game two, scoring six first inning runs to take a lead they would not relinquish.
After a scoreless first two innings to begin game one of the doubleheader, the Eagles struck first in the top of the third frame.
Zach Mornell led off the inning with a single, and with two outs,
Luke Meehan ripped an RBI double to right-center to score both Mornell and
Trent MacDougall to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead. Meehan led the Eagles with three hits in four at-bats to go along with three runs batted in.
The Pride took a 3-2 lead on an RBI double and an Eastern error in the fourth, but
Matthew Gonglik tied the game back up in the top of the fifth. The sophomore hit a sacrifice fly to score
Robert Del Buono and knot the game back up at 3-3. Gonglik drove in a pair of runs in game one.
The Eagles broke the tie with four runs on three hits and two Widener errors in the top of the sixth.
Trevor Harris scored on one of those Widener miscues, before a Meehan RBI single, a Gonglik RBI double, and Del Buono scoring on Widener's second error increased the Eastern advantage to 7-3.
Graham Adams pitched a tremendous five innings, striking out nine batters and allowing just one earned run. However, for the second straight game, the Eastern bullpen let the Pride back in the game. Widener hit an RBI single and a pair of RBI triples to turn their 7-3 deficit into a 8-7 lead.
Thomas Kozlusky scored on a passed ball in the eighth to tie the game again, but the Pride, with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, worked a bases-loaded walk to steal one from Eastern.
Leyton Bamesberger kicked off the scoring in game two with an RBI groundout to shortstop, but the Pride responded with six runs in the bottom of the first on a two-run home run, an RBI single, and a two-run double.
Mornell and Kozlusky cut the Widener lead to 6-4 in the top of the second on a pair of singles, and after Widener pushed its lead back to four in the bottom of the second,
Justin DiCesare hit a three-run home run with two outs to make it an 8-7 Widener advantage.
The Eagles battled throughout the rest of the game, coming to within one run of the Pride in the top of the sixth on a Gonglik RBI groundout and top of the seventh on a MacDougall sacrifice fly. Eastern, however, would not get any closer. The Pride scored a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh and one more in the eighth to secure the four-run win. Gonglik and Del Buono each hit a pair of doubles, while Bamesberger and Mornell also recorded a pair of hits in the loss.
Eastern will be back in action on Tuesday at Haverford. First pitch is set for 3:30 pm.
