BROCKPORT, NY-- The Brockport Golden Eagles Baseball team came into the game looking to get back in the win column after losing to the New Paltz Hawks on Saturday. Strong pitching and timely hitting powered the Golden Eagles to a 3-2 victory over the St. John Fisher Cardinals.
"We just battled," Brockport head coach Justin Beach said. "We did a nice job staying with it. We pitched pretty well, played decent defense, and came up with some timely hits. We executed better baserunning and bunting and those are probably the difference of the game."
The Golden Eagles struck first in the bottom of the first inning after designated hitter Brian Tietjen doubled and drove in right fielder Zach Eldred. One inning later, in the bottom of the second, third basemen Ryan Leniec singled up the middle which brought home shortstop Nick Mahar to give Brockport the 2-0 lead.
The Cardinals were held scoreless through the first three innings. In the top of the fourth inning, after a leadoff triple by shortstop Nick Lemire, second basemen Jake Crantz drove in Lemire on a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 2-1.
Both teams would not score again until the seventh inning. In the top of the seventh inning Cardinals third basemen James Murphy tied the game at two apiece after bringing home first basemen Brian Norsen on a single. This is the last run the Cardinals would score in the game.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Brockport catcher Jason Mansell drove in second basemen Josh Indek on a bunt single to give the Golden Eagles the 3-2 lead. This was the final score of the game.
"Coach always says you have to be ready," Mansell said. "He called my number in the fifth inning, I got to catch an inning to get my feet wet and I got an at-bat in the seventh inning and it ended up being the winning run. We practiced guy on third all practice yesterday and it was the same situation that we had in practice. Coach gave me the bunt sign, I got it down did my job and it ended up working out."
Freshman pitcher Tyler Pohlman got the start for the Golden Eagles tossing four innings allowing one run on two hits while walking four and striking out four. Brian Doherty came in relief and hurled 2.2 innings allowing one run on two hits while striking out four. Michael Heilig earned his third victory of the season after tossing 1.1 innings allowing one hit and striking out one. Angelo Agro earned his second save of the season throwing a scoreless ninth inning. Pohlman has been very pleased from what he has seen from the bullpen this season.
"We are just so deep," Pohlman said. "We have so many guys and I trust every one of them that comes out to do their job and pick me up."
Coach Beach knows there are different ways to win a baseball game and is hopeful that his team will end up with another victory.
"That's the beauty of this game, you never know," Beach said. "There's a lot of different ways to win a baseball game. Whether you need to swing, you need to pitch it, or play defense. That's what we love about it. Find a way to win a game and take whatever the game gives you. Hopefully tomorrow we find a way to be on the right side of it."
With the win, Brockport improves to 17-12 overall. They will be back in action tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. when they host the Ithaca Bombers for some non-conference action.