SCRANTON, Pa. - In its final non-conference action of the season, Eastern Baseball split a doubleheader with the Marywood Pacers. The Eagles (14-23) took the opener, 10-4, using a seven-run fifth inning and a strong outing from
Peter Mellana and
Roy Corso on the bump, before falling in the nightcap, 12-7. Both games were seven innings.
Mellena and Corso were both excellent in their innings of works, combining to allow just five hits and three earned runs. Corso (2-0) earned his second win of the season in relief, giving up just one hit and five total baserunners in the final 3.2 innings.
The Eagles finished with nine hits in the opener.
Thomas Kozlusky and
Trent MacDougall led the Eagles with two hits apiece, while five other Eagles finished with one.
Brian Lang and
Justin DiCesare each drove in three runs to help lift Eastern to its 14th win.
After a scoreless first inning, the Pacers (13-16) struck first in bottom of the second, scoring on a passed ball. The Eagles, however, responded with three runs in the top of the third. After a MacDougall single, a Kozlusky walk, and a successful sacrifice bunt from first-year shortstop
Jaden Taylor, Meehan delivered his 34th RBI of the year, a sacrifice fly to left field to score MacDougall and tie the game at 1-1. Two batters later, Lang delivered with a two-run double to deep left field, scoring both Kozlusky and
Matthew Gonglik to give the Eagles the lead at 3-1.
The Pacers answered back in the bottom of the fourth, scoring three runs on an RBI single, a bases-loaded walk, and a sacrifice fly. The Eagles saved the majority of their offensive output for the fifth, plating seven runs on six hits. Lang took a pitch on the shoulder with the bases loaded to tie the game at 4-4, and
Brock Langlotz also ate a pitch to give the Eagles a lead they would not relinquish.
Robert Del Buono drew the Eagles third bases-loaded run with a walk, and DiCesare delivered the crushing blow - a three-run double down the third-base line - to put the Eagles ahead 9-4. Kozlusky capped off the inning with an RBI single to left field. Corso pitched well down the stretch to shut the door, recording three scoreless innings to secure the win for Eastern.
Eastern struck first in game two, scoring a pair of runs on a Gonglik bases-loaded walk and a Marywood fielding error, but the Pacers exploded for 11 of its 12 runs in the first two frames. The Eagles chipped away at the lead, scoring a run in the second on a Taylor sacrifice fly and another three in the third on a two-run single from
Zach Mornell and an infield RBI single from Kozlusky.
The Eagles got as close as four on an RBI fielders choice from
Trent MacDougall in the fifth, but the Pacers added an insurance run in the sixth on an RBI double to secure the doubleheader sweep.
Mornell and MacDougall each finished with two hits, while six other Eagles recorded a hit. With his two hits across both games,
Luke Meehan now has 60 on the season. He needs just six more over the final three games to tie Angelo Kelly for the most hits for an Eastern baseball player in a single season.
Eastern will conclude its 2025 season this weekend against Stevenson. The first of the three-games series will take place in Owings Mills on Friday beginning at 3:30 pm.
