GREENSBORO, N.C. - UNC Greensboro pulled out to an early 5-2 lead, but Eastern Kentucky scored five unearned runs off four errors as UNCG fell to the Colonels, 9-6, on Tuesday evening at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.
Colonel reliever Chris Barte picked up his first win of the year after pitching 1 1/3 innings of relief and allowing one run on two hits. Ryne Purcell came in to pitch a 1-2-3 ninth to record his third save of the season. Wes McBride was credited with the loss after allowing four runs, all unearned, in just a third of an inning of relief.
The Spartans were led at the plate by senior Ed Jayjack who went 3-4 with two RBI and two runs scored along with a walk. Ryan Faidley paced the Colonels by going 3-4 as well and scoring three runs.
Eastern Kentucky got the scoring started in the second inning as Anthony Ottrando led off the inning with a single to center field. After stealing second, he moved to third on Michael Garcia's single before scoring on a fielder's choice.
The Spartans responded with two runs in the bottom half of the second to take the early lead. Jayjack led off the inning with a single through the right side and Zach Leach walked two batters later. Chris Barker's single through the left side scored Jayjack from second and Leach gave UNCG the lead after scoring on Eric Brindle's single.
Ray Quinones reached base in the third on a fielder's choice and moved to second on a throwing error by the shortstop with one down in the third. He moved to third on a balk before scoring on Jayjack's double down the left field line. Lloyd Enzor followed with a single through the left side to score Jayjack and put UNCG ahead, 4-1.
Jayson Langfels began the fourth inning for the Colonels with a leadoff double just inside the third base bag before stealing third base. He then scored on a Spartan fielding error to pull Eastern Kentucky within 4-2.
Corey Overholtzer and Quinones hit back-to-back two-out singles in the bottom half of the fourth to help the Spartans get that run back. As Quinones moved to second on a wild pitch, the Colonel catcher threw it into center field to allow Overholtzer to easily score from third and give the Spartans a 5-2 advantage.
The Colonels started the top of the fifth off with another leadoff double, this time to left field by Faidley. After the Spartans set the next two batters down, Bryce Labhart delivered a double to center field to score Faidley. Labhart scored a batter later on a triple down the left field line to make it a 5-4 game.
Eastern Kentucky took the lead for good in the top of the sixth as the Colonels scored four runs on just two hits and three Spartan errors. Garcia led off the inning by reaching on a throwing error and then advanced to second on another throwing error as Jeff Emerich reached on a fielder's choice. The Colonels put on the double steal and UNCG's throw down to third went into left field to allow Garcia to score. A groundout by the Colonels allowed Emerich to score from third and give the visitors a 6-5 lead.
Faidley continued the rally for Eastern Kentucky as he followed with a single up the middle. Jacob Daniel then hit one of four triples by the Colonels to score Faidley. Daniel later scored on a groundout to put EKU ahead, 8-5.
The Spartans battled back in the bottom half of the sixth to pull within 8-6 as Jayjack delivered an RBI single right in front of the right fielder to score Gehringer.
Faidley hit a one-out triple for Eastern Kentucky in the eighth inning and later scored on a single as the Colonels added an insurance run to make it 9-6.
The Spartans return to action this weekend as they host Princeton for a three-game series beginning on Saturday at 1p.m.
AGATE
Eastern Kentucky 9, UNC Greensboro 6
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Eastern Kentucky.... 010 124 010 - 9 11 3 (5-3)
UNC Greensboro...... 022 101 000 - 6 12 4 (7-4)
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Pitchers: Eastern Kentucky - REXROAT, Austin; ALVEY, Cody(3); BARTE, Chris(5); SANDERS, Eric(7); PURCELL, Ryne(9) and JAMISON, A.J.; STEVENS, Joey. UNC Greensboro - Colby Hyatt; Wes McBride(6); Greg Smith(6) and Ed Jayjack.
Win-BARTE, Chris(1-0) Save-PURCELL, Ryne(3) Loss-Wes McBride(2-1) T-2:58 A-113
Weather: 68 and sunny
- UNCG -
