ST. DAVIDS, Pa. - Eastern Baseball ran its win streak to six games on Tuesday with a 17-5 win over the Neumann Knights at The Yard. The Eagles battled back from an early three-run deficit, and the Eastern pitching staff did an excellent job navigating through a bullpen game.

The Eagles collected 15 hits in the win on Tuesday, six for extra bases. Trent MacDougall was not retired in the leadoff spot, finishing 3-for-3 with runs scored, a single, a double, and his first collegiate home run. First-year Ryan Alfonso finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored and three RBIs. Matt McSorley finished with two hits and ended the game early with a three-run shot, his second home run of the season. Matthew Gonglik finished 2-for-4 with a run scored and a two-run double. In the eighth spot, Robert Del Buono went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs. The Eagles also swiped 12 bases without being caught stealing. 

"Offensively early, we did not execute the way we needed to," Eastern Head Coach Scott Renauro said. "Having a guy at third with less than two outs is a must score situation. After leaving six guys on in the first three innings, we settled down and started to work counts and execute what we wanted to. Trent has really been swinging it well. With him living gap to gap and connecting on a long ball, that was really good to see. Everyone in the lineup had a hit or an RBI. We have a big series coming up against a solid team. This was a good tune up before Friday."

Zachary Alfonso, Michael Gine, Connor Viola, Peter Mellana, Owen DeLong, Brayden Goss, and Blake Weinstein pitched an efficient bullpen game, combining to allow just six hits while striking out 10. Viola (1-0) earned his first collegiate win after pitching a scoreless fourth, and Weinstein pitched an effective final two frames, giving up just one hit while striking out a pair.

"Bullpenning a game is not always the easiest because you rely on so many guys and it's hard to get into a groove. I thought our pen did well coming and limiting the big innings," Renauro said. "They scored some early, but I knew if we minimized their big rallies, our offense would come alive."

Neumann grabbed the early advantage on a pair of solo shots from JerVal Shuler and Yoan Feliz, before adding another run on an Andrew Brown RBI single. The Eagles responded with 10 straight runs over the next four innings. Luke Meehan began the rally in the third inning, singling home MacDougall and Alfonso, to make it 3-2. Meehan now has 21 RBIs on the season. In the fourth, after Del Buono walked, MacDougall scored him on an RBI single to tie the game at 3-3. Alfonso followed with a double to left field, scoring MacDougall to give the Eagles the lead for good.

In the fifth, Del Buono doubled to score Gonglik before scoring himself on a Neumann throwing error, and MacDougall followed with his first collegiate home run to make it an 8-3 Eastern lead. In the sixth, Matos hit a sacrifice fly and Del Buono recorded another RBI to increase the Eastern advantage to 10-3.

After Neumann got two back in the top of the seventh, Gonglik put the Eagles back up seven in the bottom of the inning with a two-run double. The Eagles walked it off in the bottom of the eighth on a two-run double from Alfonso and McSorley's three-run shot.

Eastern (10-3) will begin conference play this weekend against the York Spartans. They will travel to York on Friday to take on the Spartans at 3:00 pm.