COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Purple Eagles enjoyed their highest offensive output of the young season but came up just short, losing to Tennessee Tech 10-9 in 11 innings on Sunday afternoon.
 
“We battled our tails off today,” said head coach Rob McCoy.  “We came out on the wrong end of things, but I’m proud of our resilience.  We’ll clean some things up and be better next weekend.”
 
Tennessee Tech (4-3) took the first lead of the game, 1-0, in the bottom of the second but Niagara (1-6) responded immediately with a three-run third.  The Purple Eagles added a run in the fourth and two each in the fifth and sixth to extend their lead to 8-3 heading into the bottom the sixth. 
 
The Golden Eagles scored five runs over the next two innings to tie the score at 8-8, where it would remain until the tenth.  Each team added a run in that tenth frame before Tennessee Tech scratched across one more in the 11^th to come away with a 10-9 win.
 
Three players for Niagara (1-6) finished with two RBIs.  Michael Fuhrman, who finished 3-for-5 with a walk, had a pair of RBI singles.  The first came in the top of the third and was the first of three runs scored that inning.  The second gave NU a 10-9 lead in the top of the tenth.  Freshman Greg Rodgers, who homered on Friday, brought in the other two of Niagara’s third-inning runs with a single through the left side.  Pavel Chavez-Rusova hit his second homerun of the season to bring Niagara’s lead to 6-2 in the fifth.
 
Anthony Caringi (0-1) got the start for the Purple and White, pitching to a no-decision.  He pitched four full innings giving up three runs on just two hits and struck out eight.  Jordan Schwartz, who started the game in right field and went 2-for-6 with a double at the dish, took the loss coming out of the pen. 
 
Niagara is back on the field next weekend when it travels to Dover, Del. to take on Delaware State in a three-game series.