LAKELAND, Fla.- Trailing 4-2 in the ninth inning, Juniata baseball rallied with a three-run ninth inning to defeat Grove City 5-4 on Thursday afternoon at Lake Myrtle Park. The Eagles' record now stands at 3-9 while the Wolverines fall to 3-6.
Josiah Lynn (Beggs, OK/Classical Conversations Homeschool) got the start on the mound for the Eagles and was was spotted a 2-0 run lead in the second inning. With runners on first and second, Hunter Price (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon Valley) doubled to center field to bring in a run. Cameron Livingston (Blairsville, Pa./Blairsville) followed with a sacrifice fly to center to score the second run.
Grove City scored once in the fourth inning on a passed ball. Lynn scattered three hits over five innings and gave up just one unearned run while walking two batters and striking out three.
The Wolverines tied the game with a sac fly in the bottom of the seventh. In the eighth inning, Grove City went ahead as Micah Burke scored on a wild pitch and added another run on a Shane Hammel double to right center that scored Austin Wacker.
The Eagles led off the top of ninth with singles by Price and Devin McLaughlin (Monmouth Beach, NJ/Shore Regional). Shane Buss' (Warrenton, Va./Highland) sac bunt moved the runners to second and third. Devyn Carper (Altoona, Pa./Altoona Area) then singled to bring home Price. After the Wolverines brought in a relief pitcher, Chris Schreder (Lititz, Pa./Lancaster Catholic) singled in McLaughlin to tie the game at 4-4. Austin Suders (Marion, Pa./Chambersburg Area) grounded out and Adam Kipp (Mt. Wolf, Pa./Northeastern) walked. With the bases loaded, Isaac Kline (Everett, Pa./Bedford) would walk to score Carper and give JC the 5-4 lead. Gavin Grimaldi (Clymer, Pa./Penns Manor) induced three straight groundouts to pick up his first career win. He went 1.1 innings and surrendered just one hit.
Carper led the Eagles with five hits on the day. He is one of seven players since 2000 to collect five in a game. Schreder finished 3-for-4 with a double and a run batted in. Matt Innella (Commack, NY/Commack) was 3-for-5 at the plate with a double and a run scored.
Juniata ends its Florida trip with a doubleheader against King's College on Friday. Game 1 will be at 9:00 a.m. with the second game following at 11:00 a.m.