ST. DAVIDS, Pa. - For the time since April 2024, Eastern Baseball played a pair of games on the campus of Eastern University at their beautiful new facility where the Yard used to reside.The Eagles christened the New Yard with a thrilling comeback win in the opener, 7-6. The Eagles trailed 3-0 after three innings and 6-5 heading into the bottom of the seventh, but Eastern rallied back twice, capping it off on a two-out, walk-off double from sophomore Jaden Taylor in the bottom of the seventh.

Lancaster Bible (1-1) struck first in the opener, scoring a pair of runs in the second inning on RBI singles from Everett Bell and Dylan Witkowsi and another in third on an RBI knock from Malachi Sloane. The Eagles found their footing in the fourth inning, cutting the LBC lead to one. Trent MacDougall led off the frame with a double and advanced to third on fielder obstruction, before Matthew Gonglik brought him home on an RBI single for Eastern's first run at the New Yard. Taylor made it 3-2 later in the frame on an RBI groundout.

After a scoreless fifth, the Eagles scored three more runs in the bottom of the sixth. With the bases loaded on a Luke Meehan single and walks to JJ Matos and Taylor, senior Justin DiCesare made the most of this first pinch hitting opportunity of the season. The Harleysville native roped a two-run single through the right side of the LBC infield, scoring both Meehan and Matos to give the Eagles their first lead of the day. First-year DH Matt McSorely doubled the Eastern lead later in the inning on an RBI fielders choice.

With two outs in the top of the seventh, the Chargers did not go away quietly. LBC center fielder Evan Sareyka, with Tanner Smith on first after a two-out single, crushed the first home run at the New Yard over the left field wall, tying the contest at 5-5. Three batters later, Everett Bell gave LBC the lead again at 6-5 with an RBI double to center field.

However, the Eagles had another rally in them. Just as he did in the third, MacDougall hit another leadoff double in the seventh, before advancing to third on a groundout. With Meehan at the plate, MacDougall tied the game at 6-6, scoring on a wild pitch. Meehan went on to walk, setting up Taylor for his late game heroics. The sophomore crushed the ball to left field, and Meehan did the rest, scoring from first base to give the Eagles an exhilarating opening win at their new field.

Blake Weinstein (1-0) earned the win in relief, inducing the critical flout for the third out in the sixth inning to keep it a one-run LBC lead. Junior Graham Adams had a solid first outing to begin  his junior season, striking out five batters in four innings of work. MacDougall finished 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a pair of runs scored, while Taylor finished 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs. Gonglik, Meehan, DiCesare, and McSorely each finished with a hit for the Eagles.

"It was a great afternoon seeing all the families back at The Yard after a year away," Eastern Head Coach Scott Renauro said. "We started off a little sluggish at the plate in both games but battled back with better at-bats. I knew we could trust Justin in a huge pinch spot. He did that all last year and came up big agains today in game one."

LBC took the rubber match, 6-4, in game two. The Chargers scored four runs in the third and another two in the fifth to build a 6-0 lead. The Eagles battled back again, scoring three runs in the sixth and another in the seventh. They had bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth and the winning run at the plate in the bottom of the seventh, but would not come any closer than two runs. Trevor Harris finished 2-for-3 in the nightcap with a run scored, while sophomore catcher Lane Heuer recorded a two-run single in the bottom of the sixth inning. Meehan finished with a double, while first-year shortstop John Bishop and junior Robert Del Buono also recorded a knock.

"Pitching wasn't the sharpest," Renauro continued. "We need to be better throwing our off speed and a few big innings killed us. Limiting those big innings will be a huge emphasis moving forward."

Weather permitting, Eastern (1-1) will be back in action on Tuesday for a single game against Swarthmore College. First pitch is set for 3:00 pm.