ST. DAVIDS, Pa. - Going up against the league leading Messiah Falcons on Friday night, the Eagles battled valiantly, but dropped a 15-6 decision at The Yard. The Falcons (22-10, 14-2) recorded 19 hits in the contest, nine for extra bases and four for home runs and 10 Falcons recorded at least one hit. The Eagles (22-11, 8-8) trailed 4-3 heading into the third inning, but the Falcons used a six-run frame to take a lead they would not relinquish.

After the Falcons scored three on a Landon Mark home run, Trent MacDougall hit his fourth home run of the year over the left center wall to cut the lead to 3-1. Thomas Kozlusky followed with a double, but the Eagles left him stranded.

Matt Luchovick hit the Falcons' second home run in the second inning to push Messiah's advantage back to three, but the Eagles again rallied. Ryan Alfonso hit an RBI single to right field, scoring Justin Rodriguez, and Kozlusky plated Leyton Bamesberger on a sacrifice fly to right field. Again, however, the Eagles could not score the tying run.

The Falcons broke the game open with six runs in the third, hitting three doubles and a triple in the frame to increase their advantage to 10-3. The Eagles' last best chance came in the bottom of the fifth. Rodriguez and Bamesberger each drove in runs to cut the Messiah lead to 11-6, and the Eagles had runners on second and third with one out, but a double play ended the Eastern rally. Messiah added four more insurance runs in the seventh to clinch its 14th conference win of the season.

MacDougall, Kozlusky, and Bamesberger combined for six hits and three RBIs. Kozlusky hit a pair of doubles, while Rodriguez hit his first collegiate triple.

Eastern will conclude its season series with Messiah tomorrow in Grantham. First pitch is set for 12:00 noon.