ST. DAVIDS, Pa.— After dropping the opening two games of the MAC Commonwealth series to the Alvernia University Golden Wolves, Eastern University Baseball (21-10, 8-7) needed a special performance to stay alive in the tightly packed MAC Commonwealth race with two series remaining. With 6.2 scoreless innings, first year right-hander
Marcelo Llorente gave the Eagles just that. The Eastern offense scored four two-out runs and
Owen DeLong went 2.1 innings in relief to pick up the save.
Llorente was up against Alvernia's Matt Mays. The duo went pitch-for-pitch with neither giving up a run through five innings. After Llorente retired the side in order in the sixth, the Eagles got just the smallest bit of life in the sixth. As he has done all year,
Trent MacDougall set the table. The junior center fielder slashed a single to center and looked ready to run at first. Mays threw over several times, and each time MacDougall got back. Eventually, after starting toward home, Mays stopped and was called for a balk.
Thomas Kozlusky hit a fly ball to right center to put his center fielder on third with only one away.
Luke Meehan's fly ball was not deep enough to risk an attempt, so the responsibility fell to Matt Gonglik. The Alvernia second baseman kept Gonglik's shot over the bag in the infield but could not make a throw and MacDougall touched home for the 39th time this year.
Llorente struck out the first hitter he faced, and after a walk, he struck out another batter, but a four-pitch walk put two on with two outs, and
Owen DeLong came on in relief. Llorente threw 119 pitches and struck out four. DeLong got a ground ball to short to escape the jam and send the game to the bottom of the seventh.
After two quick outs,
Leyton Bamesberger started a rally with a single into center.
Justin Rodriguez then hit the first pitch he saw into the left-field corner for an RBI double. MacDougall got hit by a pitch and Kozlusky walked to load the bases for Meehan. With the count full, Meehan hit a hard shot off the top of the second-baseman's glove for a two-RBI single and a good amount of insurance for DeLong. With three runs scored today, MacDougall is now tied for fourth on Eastern's single-season run list. Angelo Kelly and André Butler each scored 44 in 2016 and 2012 respectively, and current head coach Scott Renaure scored 43 in 2010.
DeLong worked an efficient eighth and worked around a pair of hits in the ninth to complete the shutout. He picked up his second save of the year.
The urgency of the second game was made real by a very rough outing in the first. The first three Alvernia hitters all reached safely and the guests used two hits and three errors in the inning to lead 3-0 before the Eagles came to bat. While Brennan Molough ney righted the ship and held the Golden Wolves without another run through his five innings of work, The Eagles managed just a single tally when
JJ Matos drove home MacDougall with a two-out single in the fourth.
The Golden Wolves (14-7, 6-9) broke the game open with five runs in the top of the sixth and held on for the 8-1 win.
Eastern managed only four hits and finished the game with four errors.
The 21 wins matches Eastern's total from 2010 and is the most wins in a single season since joining the NCAA. The Eagles currently sit in fourth in the league standings with a series against Messiah and a series against Widener left. The Eagles are two games up on Alvernia and York, and a game behind Widener and Hood. The Eagles do not hold tiebreakers against Hood, Alvernia, or York.
The Eagles will host Delaware Valley on Tuesday.
