LAKELAND, Fla.- Juniata went ahead 10-3 in the bottom of the fifth but had to withstand a Cairn rally in the ninth inning as the Eagles ended their Florida trip on a high note with a 10-7 win over the Highlanders on Friday morning. The game was played on the campus of Southeastern University.
The game did not begin as JC would have liked as starting pitcher Hunter Price (Huntingdon, Pa/Huntingdon Area) gave up a two-run homerun to Caleb Lang as the Highlanders took a 2-0 lead. The Eagles answered in the bottom of the inning as Chris Schreder (Lititz, Pa./Lancaster Catholic) led off with a double to left center and scored on a Devyn Carper (Altoona, Pa/Altoona Area) single to make it 2-1.
Cairn added a run in the second inning as Matthew Buckery stole home. Juniata had a big inning in the fourth. Carper led off with a single to left field. After Anthony Lombardo (Altoona, Pa/Altoona Area) flied out, Joe Klusman (Wilmington, Del./St. Elizabeth) hit a double to right center to score Carper. Chris Sinisi (Altoona, Pa./Altoona Area) flied out. David DeFreest (Duxbury, Vt./Harwood Union) ripped a double down the right field line to plate Klusman and tie the game up. Zach Tobash (Macungie, Pa./Allentown Central) then doubled to score DeFreest and give JC a 4-3 lead. Josh Keszcyck (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown Area) and Isaac Kline (Everett, Pa/Bedford) both walked to load the bases and Schreder singled up the middle to bring in Tobash as Juniata went ahead 5-3.
Price held the Highlanders off the board in the fifth. In the Eagle fifth, Lombardo was hit by a pitch to lead off. Klusman singled and Sinisi walked to load the bases. DeFreest came to the plate and smashed a grand slam to right centerfield. Tobash followed with a homer to centerfield and Juniata increased its lead to 10-3.
Cairn got a run in the sixth and the eight to close the gap to 10-5. In the ninth, Joey Nieves-Markee reached base on an error and Brett Marks singled. The Eagles got a big break as Lang hit into a double play. Ben Chapman then hit a two-run homerun off of Kline to center to make it 10-7. Kline was able to get Alejandro Fernandez to ground out and end the inning.
Price went five innings and gave up four hits, three earned runs, four walks, and struck out four to get his first career win. Kline pitched four innings and surrendered seven hits, and four runs (two earned), while striking out two batters.
DeFreest went 2-for-5 with a homerun, two runs scored, and five runs batted in. Tobash finished 2-for-4 with a homer, two runs, and two runs batted in. Schreder was 3-for-5 at the plate with a run and a RBI.
Juniata is 3-8 overall. The Eagles head back north and will return to action this Wednesday on the road at Gettysburg. Game time for the single nine-inning game will be at 3:30 p.m.
