DURHAM, N.C. – The Niagara Purple Eagles split their first twinbilling of the season after they took the first game 8-7 but dropped the second game 5-3 against the N.C. Central Eagles on Saturday.
 
"Today was a great day of baseball," head coach Rob McCoy said. "Despite the split, we got better and found out a lot about ourselves."
 
Game One
The Purple Eagles (2-4) scored in pairs throughout Saturday's opener and made a heads-up play at the end to win the game one 8-7.
 
Niagara was first on the board with a two-RBI single from Taylor Hackett to take a 2-0 lead. He struck again in his next at bat with a double to left-center that cut the deficit to 5-4 after N.C. Central (1-3-1) was able to score five-straight in the first and second innings.
 
Joel Klock gave the lead back to NU with a single that plated another pair in the top of the fourth that made the score 6-5.
 
Anthony Caringi came out of the bullpen in the second inning and kept the Eagles off the board through 3.1 innings, but N.C. Central led off the sixth with a triple, just the second hit off of Caringi, that set up the game tying run. It tied the game with a triple and the game went into extra innings tied 6-6.
 
Following the pattern they set through the first seven innings, the Purple Eagles hung two on the board in the top of the eighth. Klock led off the inning with a double to get a runner into scoring position. Kevin Paulsen came into the game as a pinch runner and was the first run to cross the plate three batters later. Geoff Seto brought home the eighth and final NU run with a single to right field to head into the bottom half of the frame up 8-6.
 
The game was far from over as N.C. Central was able to load the bases with one out on the board. Geoff Soja forced the Eagles' batter to fly out to center for the second out. The runner that represented the tying run on second base took off for third without tagging. Jordan Schwartz was able to get the ball back into the infield to Michael Fuhrman who threw over to Anthony Firenzicovering the bag to complete the double play and end the game. One run was able to cross the plate on the play but it wasn't enough as the Purple Eagles earned the 8-7 victory.
 
Soja went 2.2 innings, gave up three hits, and struck out four on his way to the win. Hackett finished the game 2-for-4 with the four RBIs and Seto went 3-for-4 at the dish.
 
Game Two
Niagara was first on the board again in game two with a bases-loaded SAC-fly from Schwartz in the second inning. Liam Stroud started on the mound and didn't give up a hit until the fifth inning, but the Eagles tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the second on a ground out.
 
NU added a single run in both the fourth and fifth innings. Greg Rodgers brought one run across the plate in the fourth with a double to left-center field before Fuhrman extended the lead to 3-1 with a single to left field in the fifth.
 
The Purple Eagles almost mustered late-inning heroics for the second time on Saturday after N.C. Central was able to score three in the fifth and one in the sixth to take a 5-3 lead. NU loaded the bases in the top of the seventh but were unable to take advantage. The Eagles forced a double play and a groundout to hold on for the 5-3 win.
 
Stroud finished the game with four earned runs on one hit through 4.1 innings. Jacob Lysiak  made another appearance out of the pen and went 1.2 innings with one run on two hits. Schwartz went a perfect 1-for-1 with a walk and a RBI at the plate.
 
"I'm seeing good things from our pitching but we need to do a better job of limiting the free bases," McCoy said.
 
These teams play the fourth and final game of the weekend series tomorrow at 12:00 p.m.