LAKE WALES, Fla. – A big first inning helped propel the Juniata College baseball team to its first win of the season Sunday afternoon.  The Eagles (1-7) topped Franklin & Marshall (F&M) 4-2 before falling 5-0 in game two of the doubleheader set at Warner University.

Game One
Junior Joe Sforza (Pittstown, N.J./Immaculata) went 3-for-4 with two RBI to lead the team.  Senior Ben Mersky (Hershey, Pa./Hershey) finished with two hits and fellow senior Cole Walters (Mt. Union, Pa./Mt. Union) drove in two runs.

Mersky led off the game with a single to center and advanced to third when junior Brad Medellin (Lewisberry, Pa./Red Land) singled to left center. Walters singled through the right side with the bases loaded, scoring Mersky and Medellin.  With one out, Sforza sent Walters home from second on a single to left field.  He would earn his second RBI in the third inning to give Juniata the 4-0 lead.  F&M came across in the third and fifth, but the Eagles held on for the 4-2 win.

Junior Mario DeYulis (Ebensburg, Pa./Central Cambria) pitched the complete seven innings, giving up just three hits and striking out four of the 29 batters faced.  He improved to 1-1 on the season.

Game Two
Juniata's offense stalled in game two.  Walters went 2-for-2 against the Diplomats starter and junior Dan Gray (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) produced the only other hit in the game for the Eagles.  Freshman Darrin Williams (Fayetteville, Ga./Sandy Creek) came in relief in the third.  He held F&M to just two hits and pitched 4.1 scoreless innings.

The Eagles continue play at the RussMatt Invitational on Monday, March 11 when they take on Medaille College in a single game contest.

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