MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Eastern Baseball emerged victorious in a wild affair on Wednesday night at Griffith Field at the Cal Ripken Experience. In a back-and-forth contest, the Eagles scored a pair of runs in both the eighth and ninth innings and
Dylan Labukas slammed the door in relief in a 12-10 win over the Valley Forge Patriots.
Labukas (2-0) retired all six batters he faced in the eighth and ninth frames to earn his second win of the young season. The Scranton, Pa. native, who was third on the team in strikeouts in his freshman season, recorded three punchouts and two groundouts to lift the Eagles to their fourth win of the year and their second win of Spring Break.
The Eagles (4-3) had another strong outing at the plate with 11 hits, three of which went for extra bases.
Thomas Kozlusky finished 3-for-4 with two triples, including the one that set up the game-winning runs in the ninth, and two runs scored, while
Matthew Gonglik also tripled and scored a team-high four runs.
Leyton Bamesberger drove in a team-high three runs on a pair of hits.
The Eastern offense found its groove early with four runs in the top of the first inning. After the Eagles loaded the bases on a
Trent MacDougall single, a
Luke Meehan walk, and a Gonglik base hit,
Brian Lang drove in Eastern's first run on a sacrifice fly to right field. Bamesberger drove in Eastern's second run on an RBI fielders choice, and
Joe Paradise capped off the frame with a two-run single up the middle of the infield.
The Patriots (2-6) stormed back in their half of the frame, scoring five runs on four hits and one Eastern error. Aaron Gonzales began the rally with an RBI single and Juan Lopez drove in two more runs with a single through the left side of the infield to make it 4-3. Josh Zollo tied the game on a sacrifice fly, and Lopez later scored on a Asijan Evelyn steal of second base.
The Eagles tied the game up again at 5-5 in the top of the second inning. Gonglik led off the inning with a single, and a throwing error on a
JJ Matos grounder allowed Gonglik to score.
The game remained tied at 5-5 until the fifth inning, where the Eagles regained the lead. Kozlusky hit his first triple of the contest with one out, and MacDougall drove him in on a sacrifice fly to center field.
Valley Forge tied the game in a unique way in their half of the fifth. Evelyn, after reaching base on a fielders choice bunt, came around to score on three balks.
The offense continued to hum for the Eagles in the sixth. Matos gave the Eagles back the lead on a sacrifice fly to right field, and a Bamesberger RBI groundout to the shortshop gave Eastern a two-run advantage heading into the bottom of the sixth.
The Patriots tied the contest back up in their half of the sixth, taking advantage of an early Eastern error and some timely hits. Brayden Tunnell singled home Colin Orndorff, who reached on the Eastern miscue, with one out, and with two outs, Evelyn scored AJ Lehman with an RBI single of his own to knot the contest at 8-8.
Valley Forge scored their final two runs of the game in the bottom of the seventh as Carlos Terc scored Orndorff on an RBI single and Orndorff scored on an Eastern throwing error. The Eagles, however, went right back to work in the top of the eighth. After walks to Gonglik and Lang, a perfect sacrifice bunt from Matos advanced both runners into scoring position. Gonglik scored his fourth run of the game on a wild pitch, and Bamesberger tied the game at 10 with his third RBI of the game, a single up the middle of the infield.
Labukas entered the game in the bottom of the eighth and quickly took care of business. The sophomore struck out the side, bringing the Eastern offense back up to the plate.
With one out, Kozlusky ripped his second triple of the contest down the third base line to put the potential game-winning run in scoring position. A few moments later, after MacDougall reached first base after being hit by a pitch, he stole second base. Once the throw was made, Kozlusky sprinted home and reached safely, giving the Eagles an 11-10 lead. The Eagles added a little insurance a few batters later as MacDougall scored on a balk. Labukas went on to pitch a perfect ninth, inducing three groundouts to secure the win for the Eagles.
The Eagles will have a quick turnaround tomorrow morning as they go head-to-head with Saint Elizabeth University. First pitch is scheduled for 10:00 am.
