JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The Purple Eagles put up runs in bunches on Saturday but came away with the split of Saturday’s doubleheader against Saint Peter’s.
 
“It was an up-and-down day for us,” head coach Rob McCoy said.  “That’s baseball.  We have been working hard on focusing on the process of the game.  The guys are starting to really get it.  I look forward to tomorrow’s game.”

Game One
A rally the saw the Purple Eagles (11-22, 6-5 MAAC) put up six runs over two innings led the team to a 6-5 victory in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader.
 
Trailing 3-0 deficit heading into the sixth, Niagara came back to tie the game for the first time as the first four batters all reaching base, three of them with singles.  Michael Fuhrman led off with a base knock through the right side before Ryan McCauley sent one back up the middle for a single of his own. After Christian Vangeison loaded the bases with a walk, Greg Rodgers  who leads the team in RBIs, brought in two runs with a single to left field.  Kevin Paulsen brought in the tying run with a groundout to shortstop.
 
Saint Peter’s (11-18, 5-3 MAAC) took the lead again in bottom half of the frame with a SAC-fly but it was short lived as NU put another three on the board in the seventh.  Thomas Rodrigues and Joel Klock got on with a single and a walk, respectively, and were both moved over by a Fuhrman SAC-bunt.  Vangeison brought in the first run with a SAC-fly to left, followed by another RBI-single from Rodgers, with Paulsen wrapping up the inning with single to center and NU took a 6-4 lead.
 
Freshman Kyle Olver (3-4) pitched 7.1 innings in a winning effort.  He gave up five runs on six hits, including one final run in the eighth, and struck out five while issuing just one walk.  Geoff Soja pitched the final 1.2 innings for his fifth save of the year to give NU the 6-5 victory.
 
Rodgers finished the opener 3-for-4 at the plate with a game-high three RBIs. 
 
Game Two
The Purple Eagles found success at the plate in game two but got into a hole early and weren’t able to come back as they dropped the late game 11-7.
 
The Peacocks put up five runs in the first inning but Niagara fought back in the third, trimming the deficit to two, 5-3.  McCauley put NU on the board with an RBI double down the left field line.  Vangeison and Rodgers followed up with RBIs of their own with ground balls to third.  SPU pulled ahead in the bottom of the inning with another five-run frame and led 10-3.
 
The Purple Eagles showed resiliency, scoring three runs on a pair of doubles in the fifth.  Logan Linder brought in a pair of runs with a double to center but advanced to third on the throw.  He wouldn’t stay on the basepath long as Rodrigues followed up with a double down the right-field line to score Linder and bring the Purple Eagles within four, 10-6. 
 
Both teams scored runs in the next couple of frames, with Niagara’s coming on a Paulsen single, as Saint Peter’s tied the series with an 11-7 win.
 
Jordan Schwartz (2-3) started for NU and took the loss.  Six different Purple Eagles contributed RBIs.  Rodrigues, 3-for-4, led the team with three hits and McCauley, who went 2-for-3 with a walk, led the team with two runs scored. 
 
The rubber match of the series is set for tomorrow with first pitch at noon.