ALLENTOWN, Pa— With a huge league series on the horizon, Eastern University Baseball played 27 players in a 10-5 win at Muhlenberg. After giving up three unearned runs in the first inning, the Eastern pitching buckled down and allowed only single tallies in the sixth and seventh.
Landon Petty went five innings to pick up the win. Including a solo home run from
Justin DiCesare and a 2-RBI Single from
AJ Justis, the Eagles scored four runs in the top of the ninth to break open the game.
After a tough start in the first, the Eagles turned an error and a
Ryan Alfonso double into a three-run second. Robert DelBuono drove in one run with a hit by pitch, and
Joe Scimone walked to plate another.
Lane Heuer tied the game with an RBI ground out. Scimone then put the Eagles up with a two-out 2-RBI single in the third.
Matt McSorley pushed the lead to 6-3 when he singled to plate Heuer. Heuer started the inning with a double to left.
After the Mules cut the Eastern lead to 6-5,
Landen Lewis pitched a scoreless eighth. In eastern's win over Lebanon Valley on Tuesday, DiCesare had a 10th inning double negated for too-much pine tar on his bat. The senior slugger had a clean bat when he hit a 3-2 pitch out to left today. Eastern's final three runs came with two outs. Justis delivered a his two-run single in his second official at bat of the season. The senior catcher has spent most of his year working in the bullpen.
The two midweek wins are, in many ways an apt visual to show the improvement of the Eastern program. Against two solid opponents, the Eagles got good starting pitching and eight innings of quality relief pitching from eight different pitchers. The team ERA took a little bit of a beating in last weekend's series against Messiah, but the Eastern staff has struck out 245 hitters in just under 300 innings of work. Thirteen different pitchers have collected at least one win for the Eagles this year.
While the MAC Commonwealth post-season picture is murky, the Eagles know that they need to win one more game than York or two more games than Hood. York has a single home game and a doubleheader at Stevenson. The Mustangs are not eliminated. They have seven wins and have won three of their last four series since dropping six in a row to start the year. Hood finishes with a single game at Albright and two at home against the Lions. Widener is locked into the second spot in the MAC Commonwealth standings.
