FREDERICKSBURG, Va.- The Juniata baseball team split their doubleheader with Mary Washington on Sunday, winning the first game 12-6 but falling 6-4 in the second game. The results see the Eagles remain even on the young season with a 3-3 overall record.
Game one jumped to life in the bottom of the second inning after a scoreless first frame, with Mary Washington plating five runs on four hits, three of which were doubles. The Eagles would respond in the top of the third with a barrage of their own, scoring seven runs on five hits while seeing a whopping 13 plate appearances in the half-inning. The highlight hit of the inning was a three RBI double hit by sophomore Corey Daniels (Vandling, Pa. / Forest City Regional) to deep right field. The offensive support would help settle starter Chase Alessandroni (Royersford, Pa. / Springford), who went on to keep Mary Washington off the board in the third and fourth innings before allowing a single run in the fifth. Relief pitchers Zachary Malone (Bainbridge, Pa. / Elizabethtown) and Dominic Hoyle (Woodbridge, Va. / Garfield) would then completely shut down Mary Washington to earn Alessandroni the W. Malone struck out four and allowed just one hit in two innings of work before Hoyle stepped in and allowed no hits in two innings while striking out two batters. The offense would then tack on five more runs in the last two innings, totaling 12 runs on 16 hits. Jake Swank (Portage, Pa. / Portage) had a standout stat line, hitting 4 for six while scoring three runs and adding an RBI.
Game two would prove to be a lower-scoring affair, with starter Drew Westover (Burnham, Pa. / Mifflin County) giving up just three hits in 4.2 innings of work, but ultimately taking the loss after three walks and two costly fielding errors helped Mary Washington score despite a lack of hitting. Juniata's offense combined for nine hits in the game but only converted it to four runs, leaving seven runners on base and striking out to end an inning three times. Down 6-2 going into the sixth inning, the Eagles made a late comeback attempt but only managed two runs in the sixth and seventh innings, with multiple baserunners caught out on the basepaths. Swank continued his strong day at the plate, going 2 for 4 in the second game.
Juniata will hit the road again on Wednesday, March 16th to take on Penn St.-Berks at 3:00 PM, before returning home to face Chatham the next day at 4:00 PM.
