Offense-Heavy Performances Push Eagles Past Bears in Doubleheader
FLEMINGTON, N.J.- The Juniata baseball team picked up a pair of neutral site wins over Saint Joseph's University of Brooklyn on Friday afternoon. Juniata earned a commanding 13-2 win in game one, while Michael Warren's two-run homer in the eighth inning put the Eagles ahead for an 11-9 victory in game two.
Three Eagles hit home runs in game one, including Zach Johnston's (3-for-5, 1 HR, 1 RBI) inside-the-park home run for his first career home run. JR Harrison (1-for-1, 1 HR, 2 RBIs) also hit the first of his career, while Will Kinchington (2-for-5, 3 RBI) added his second career home run.
Other strong performances for the Eagles came from Warren (1-for-2, 3 RBIs, 2 BB), Corey Daniels (2-for-2, 2 R, 3 BB), and Joey Woodrow (2-for-5, 1 2B, 2 RBIs). Daniels and Tim Coleman each had a team-high three stolen bases.
Ethan Pfeffer got Juniata through the first 4 and 2/3 innings of game one with one earned run, four hits, a strikeout, and three walks, while Zachary Malone (Win, 2.1 IP, e SO), Jason Waguespack (1 IP), and Devon Coldren (1.0 IP, 2 SO) shut the Bears down to the finish of game one.
A Daniel walk and back-to-back stolen bases set the stage for Warren to score the opening run on a sac fly in the first inning.
Pfeffer let runners on in all of the first three innings but escaped each time including one time with the bases loaded, while he induced two double plays.
To open the second, Bakken was hit, and Johnston singled, followed by a steal of second; Kinchington knocked both runners in with a single, while Warren walked home a run later, the third of the inning.
The Bears added two runs in the fifth inning in an inning that saw two hits, a walk, and two hit batters before Juniata went to the bullpen. With the bases loaded and two runs already in, Malone generated a groundout to third base with the score at 5-2.
Juniata consistently added to their lead the rest of the way, with Johnston's inside-the-park home run in the sixth, Kinchington's leadoff homer to left field in the ninth, and Harrison's two-run shot to left also in the ninth inning.
The lead swapped five times in the second game of the afternoon, with Warren's blast to the left in the eighth securing a win.
He ended the game 3-for-4, 1 HR, 4 RBIs, and 2 SB. Daniels went 2-for-5 with 2 2B, 2 RBIs, 1 SB, and 1 BB. Dakotah Snyder had his second multi-hit game of the day, going 2-for-5 with 2 R and 1 BB.
Aidan Chermol earned his first career win via three innings, three earned runs, three hits, three strikeouts, and a walk, while Connor Krauhulec locked things down in the eighth and ninth with two scoreless frames, two strikeouts, and just one hit.
Woodrow got Juniata on the board with an RBI groundout, taking advantage of Snyder's game-opening single and two wild-pitch advancements. Neither team struck again until the bottom of the third when St. Joseph's opened the inning with a hit batter, single, and back-to-back doubles before Juniata escaped the inning with three straight fielded outs.
Juniata took advantage of an error and hit batter to open the fourth, scoring both runners on a Jace Irvin RBI groundout and Jordan Chui sacrifice fly. For the second straight inning, though, the Bears struck for three runs, making use of two hits, a walk, and a wild pitch. Through four, they led 6-3.
Irvin's hit to open the sixth inning started a five-run rally. Daniels scored two on a bases-loaded double to right, followed by a Warren single up the middle for two more runs. Johnston later added one on a double to right field for an 8-6 lead.
Once again, Saint Joseph's found a three-run burst in the seventh inning, making use of two singles and a walk to open the inning with a bases-clearing double down the left-field line. Chermol recovered by retiring the next three batters.
Down by one run in the eighth, Daniels was able to get on base and in scoring position on a fielding error in right field. Warren stepped to the plate and delivered a tower left-field blast for the lead. Juniata added one more run on Woodrow's advance to the plate on a wild pitch, while Krahulec allowed just one baserunner in the last two innings.
The Eagles took advantage of the Bears' catching throughout the day, stealing 19 of 21 bases across the doubleheader. The Bears also struggled defensively, with eight errors over 18 innings, including seven in game two.
Juniata hosts St. Joseph's in Huntingdon on Monday evening at 3:30 p.m. and Tuesday morning at 11:45 a.m.