It was the kind of spring baseball afternoon that the boys of summer enjoy, when they ignore calls to dinner and keep playing as the daylight turns to dusk. And play they did at Fishel Field on the campus of Hiram College until a walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth ended a high scoring affair sending the Eagles into the evening with a 15-12 loss. It was a hard loss to swallow for the Eagles who outslugged the Terriers 15-13 and scored 11 earned runs, as compared to just eight earned runs by the winners who benefitted from seven KSU Tusc fielding errors.

A game ending three-run blast overshadowed the plate performance of KSU Tusc's Sebastian Hanlin, who smacked two doubles---one in the second inning and one in the top of the ninth---driving home five Golden Eagles runners. He also tripled in the opening inning and crossed the plate with the navy and gold's first run of the game.

After plating a single tally in the visiting half of the first inning, the Eagles scored six times in the second to take an early 7-0 over the Terriers. Four Eagles runners drew free passes in the second before Hanlin cleared the bases with a ground ball double into left field. He scored on a single by Cole Lancaster who crossed the plate on a safety to right by Evan Klar.

Hiram scored four times in the bottom of the third and the Eagles threatened in the fifth, but stranded runners at second and third following a one-out double by Brandon Troyer and a single by Steve Michniak as they held onto a 7-4 lead.

In the bottom of the inning the Terriers led off with a double and single, and a throwing error allowed both runners to score with just one out. A pair of walks and two singles brought home two more as the hosts took an 8-7 lead after five innings.

A walk, single and two more Eagles errors led to two Hiram runs in the bottom of the sixth as they stretched their lead to 10-7. In the seventh, the Eagles left runners on second and third for the second time in the game as Troyer and Michniak both singled and advanced on a ground out.

The Terriers added two more runs in the bottom of the seventh as they took a 12-7 lead over the Eagles, before some ninth inning fireworks by both teams.

Troyer led off the ninth with a double to center followed by a line drive single past the second baseman by Michniak. A single by Blake Alexander drove home Troyer and an Evan Rissler single into left moved the runners to second and third. A flyout wasn't deep enough to score a run and with two outs and the game at hand, Hanlin stepped into the batter's box.

Ahead with a 2-0 count, Hanlin swatted a double to left field to score both runners as Rissler took third and the Eagles drew to within 12-10. Still down to their final out, Lancaster roped a single to center field to clear the bases and tie the game at 12-12.

In the bottom of the inning, the Terriers led off with a double and the second batter was hit by pitch. A short flyball to second was caught for the first out and with a 1-2 count, the next Hiram batter homered on a high fly ball the center to end the game.

The Eagles pounded out 15 hits on the afternoon as Hanlin, Lancaster, Michniak and Troyer all had three hits in the game. Hanlin scored three times to go along with a 3/6 showing at the plate and 5 RBIs. Lancaster knocked in three runners on a 3/6 afternoon, while Michniak was 3/3 and Troyer was 3/4.

On Sunday, the Golden Eagles (2-5) host Bethany College at Dover City Park for a single 9-inning game with the first pitch at 1PM.

The Eagles huddle up postgame around Coach Jarvis.

In between innings Coach Jarvis instructs the Golden Eagles.

(Photos by Rob Brindley)