STAUNTON, Va.- The Juniata baseball team opened their season on Saturday afternoon, taking on Elmira College and Mary Baldwin University, with the latter playing host. The Eagles topped Elmira 7-6 before falling to Mary Baldwin by a score of 5-1.
Drew Westover (Burnham, Pa. / Mifflin County) gave the Eagles an excellent start to work with from the mound, tossing three scoreless innings while striking out four batters and giving up only one hit. Juniata's offense would take advantage by jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning, plating two runners on a double from catcher Eric Soccio (Greensburg, Pa. / Greater Latrobe). Jake Swank (Portage, Pa. / Portage) then added another run in the bottom of the third, singling to left field and bringing in Joey Allegrini (Hershey, Pa. / Hershey). Allegrini turned in a strong game on the basepaths, stealing three bases in the game.
Elmira's offense kicked into gear in the top of the sixth inning, hitting two solo home runs and narrowing the lead to one run for Juniata. This immediately sparked a response from Juniata in the bottom of the sixth. Back-to-back doubles from Colson Lewis (Tipton, Pa. / Tyrone) and Evan Mock (Mifflin County, Pa. / McVeytown) brought in two runs before Soccio sacrifice bunted to move Mock to third base before Jr Harrison (Windsor Hill, Md. / Dulaney) hit a sacrifice fly to center field to bring him home. This restored and extended Juniata's lead, putting them up 6-2 headed into the seventh inning.
Two RBI Doubles in the top of the seventh and ninth innings would bring Elmira back level, tying the game at 6-6 headed to the bottom of the ninth. This set the stage for a dramatic hero moment for freshman Will Kinchington (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Chartiers Valley). After the first two Eagle batters grounded out, Kinchington stepped in to pinch-hit as the last chance to avoid extra innings. He proved to be more than up to the task, driving a 1-0 pitch deep over the center field wall and propelling Juniata to an opening game victory.
In the second game, Juniata's offense was stymied by a stellar complete game performance from Mary Baldwin's starter, Tucker Hensley. Hensley gave up only one run on four hits while fanning seven batters, going the distance to earn the W. Allegrini, Kinchington, and Mock were three of the four Eagle batters to earn a hit, while Michael Warren (New Berlin, Pa. / Mifflinburg) supplied the fourth. Warren began to top of the fifth with a single, before Mock hit the Eagles' only extra base hit of the game, doubling, and sending Warren to third. Mock would then score on a groundout by Soccio, giving the Eagles their only run.
At that point, Juniata's pitching combination of Chase Alessandroni (Royersford, Pa. / Springford) and Zachary Malone (Bainbridge, Pa. / Elizabethtown) had combined to allow only one run, meaning the game was tied 1-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth. A Malone wild pitch brought in a run for Mary Baldwin, restoring their one-run advantage. The Fighting Squirrels added two more unanswered runs in the seventh inning and a third run in the bottom of the eighth, while Hensley's dominance kept Juniata off the board and secured the 5-1 victory.
The Eagles will host their first home contest of the season on March 6th, taking on Hood College in a double header beginning at 12:00 PM.
