Bridgewater, Va. – The Eagles welcomed the Bulldogs of DeSales University to Harrisonburg on Feb. 19 to face off in a high scoring Saturday double header ending with final scores of 15-13 and 21-11.  

The game was played at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va. due to weather from the previous week.  

The Bulldogs opened Saturday’s action by jumping out to a quick 5-0 lead on the Eagles starting pitcher, senior Waring Garber, before senior Jarret Biesecker opened the scoring for the Eagles in the bottom of the third. DeSales would respond quickly though, extending their lead all the way to eight making it 9-1 in the fourth.  

Bridgewater would not go away quietly and bounced back in the fourth inning. Senior Kevin Navedo began a big day by sending a double into the left center field gap to bring in junior Jeff Snider and senior Brett Tharp to score. Navedo finished the game going 2-4 with a double, homerun and four RBI.  

With just two innings remaining in the ballgame, the Eagles trailed 13-9. They would finish the game with six unanswered runs to win 15-13 in a high scoring, back and forth game. A sacrifice fly from junior Hunter Clever would prove to be the game winning run in the eighth inning.  

Sophomore pitcher Tanner Ray claimed his first win of the 2022 campaign for the Eagles in relief during Saturday’s contest.  

Like game one, game two was filled with plenty of scoring for both squads. After combining for 28 runs in the first game, the two teams would combine for 31 in game two.  

Unlike the first game though, the Eagles went up 2-0 early in the first inning. The two teams would go back and forth for a few innings before the Bulldogs would launch out to a 14-4 lead in the third.  

Just after hitting the game winning sac fly in the first game, Clever received starting duties for the Eagles in game number two. During the second and third innings, Clever gave up eight runs, six earned, on three hits and five walks. Sophomore Elijah Dunlap threw well for the Eagles in relief though, going an inning giving up just one hit while striking out two.   

Senior Billy Scanlon had three hits in game two for the Bulldogs to go along with fellow senior Dillon Drew who also had three hits – including a homerun. 

Senior Will Manley picked up the win for the Bulldogs in game two by going three innings, while giving up just two hits and striking out six.   

Saturday’s split double header moves the Eagles to 3-2 on the season, while DeSales moves to 1-2. The Eagles will get a chance to bounce back quickly as they host Elizabethtown Sunday, Feb. 20 for another double header. It will end a stretch of 36 innings in about the same amount of hours for the Eagles.