READING, Pa. - In its first of a three-game set on Thursday afternoon, Eastern Baseball failed to get the offense going in a 9-2 loss to the Alvernia Golden Wolves at Angelica Park. Alvernia (14-11. 7-3) starter Chris Sasso struck out eight and gave up just five hits, and the Eagles (10-16, 3-7) left seven runners stranded in the loss.

After a scoreless first two frames, the Golden Wolves, serving as the visitors, struck for two runs in the top of the third inning on a pair of RBI singles from Jake Chapman and Evan Thomas. Alvernia's second run of the inning came on the heels of an Eastern fielding error with two outs, their first of four on the afternoon.

Eastern struck back in the bottom of the fourth. After back-to-back singles from Luke Meehan and JJ Matos, Meehan later scored on a Matos steal attempt, crossing home plate after the Alvernia catcher threw the ball to second base.

Alvernia, however, scored three more runs in the fifth to increase their lead to four runs. The Golden Wolves scored their first run on an Eastern throwing error, a Nathan Siedel RBI single, and a Logan Nelson sacrifice fly. Eastern briefly cut the lead to 5-2 on a Matos RBI single in the sixth, but the Golden Wolves scored two more runs in the seventh and eighth frames on their way to an eventual seven-run win.

"Unfortunately, I did not have them ready to play today," Eastern Head Scott Renauro said. "Our defense wasn't ready in an important game. We got another solid start from staff, but didn't make the key plays when we needed to. There are a few key plays in every game and the difference in executing small ball hurt us today. Situational hitting and execution will be need to be better tomorrow." 

Meehan, Matos, and Matthew Gonglik led the Eagles with two hits apiece., while Leyton Bamesberger also recorded a hit. With two more hits on Friday, Meehan is now hitting a robust .456 on the season with a team-high 47 knocks. He needs just three more to crack the Eastern top-10 hits list in a single season. Angelo Kelly holds the all-time mark with 66 hits back in 2016.

Eastern will conclude its season series with Alvernia tomorrow afternoon in Reading. First pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 12 noon.