Box Score

FARMVILLE, Va. – Another late rally wasn’t enough for the Niagara baseball team (7-7) who saw its four-game winning streak come to an end in a 13-9 loss to the Longwood Lancers (10-6) on Sunday afternoon. 
 
Heading into the eighth inning down 8-5, Niagara started its comeback.  Jeff Calhoon and Thomas Rodrigues led off the inning with two-straight singles.  Calhoon advanced on a fly-out and was brought around by an Adam Wagner single to bring Niagara within two, 8-6.
 
“We fought hard today and just came out on the wrong end of a high scoring affair,” said head coach Rob McCoy.  “It was a disappointing end to what I thought was a solid spring road-trip.”
 
Eric Hink kept things going with a RBI single of his own to cut the deficit to one run.  With runners on first and second, Ryan McCauley came to the plate and delivered a two-RBI double to left field to put the Purple Eagles in the lead 9-8.
 
The Lancers came back in the bottom of the inning when they were able to bring in four runs on five hits to take their final 13-9 lead.
 
“We still have a lot of work to do as a team in all phases of the game, but these guys are committed to our vision and continue to improve,” McCoy said.
 
The Purple Eagles kept within striking distance all afternoon to set themselves up for their eighth inning rally.  After scoring the first run of the game off of a Wagner triple and a Hink RBI-single, Longwood put up two runs in the second and a run in the third to take a 3-1 lead.
 
Niagara brought one run across in the fourth when Wynton Bernard reached on a fielding error, stole both second and third, then scored on a Jon Wilson sac-fly to get within 3-2.  It took the lead for the second time in the fifth when Niagara scored with a Hink RBI double and a Bernard RBI single to go up 4-3.
 
Longwood then put up three runs in the bottom of the fifth, but Niagara kept it a one-run game when Kevin Paulsen scored on a passed ball to make it 6-5.  The Lancers extended their lead again in the bottom of the inning with two-run home run to put Longwood up 8-5 heading into the eighth.
 
Hink and McCauley led the way for the Purple Eagles, going a combined 7-for-9 at the plate with four RBIs and five runs scored. 
 
Joel Klock got the start and gave up four runs over four innings of work.  Geoff Soja gets the loss out of the bullpen.
 
The Purple Eagles are on back in action next weekend when they head to Ypsilanti, Mi. for a three game series with Eastern Michigan beginning on Friday at 3 pm.