RICHMOND, Ky. – Sophomore Matt Davis went 3-for-4 but it wasn't enough as the Eastern Kentucky baseball team dropped its first game of the 2007 season, 5-1, to the Oakland Golden Grizzlies on Saturday afternoon at Turkey Hughes Field. The Colonels fall to 1-1 with the loss while the Golden Grizzlies improve to 3-0.

Oakland jumped on top with a run in the first as Kyle Crepeau led off with an infield single and then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Andrew Stafford. Willoughby struck out Justin Wilson for the second out but then walked Ryan Heath and Dan Ryan followed with an RBI double to give the Grizzlies a 1-0 lead.

The Colonels threatened in the second as junior Clint Seymour, who went 2-for-3 on the day, walked with two outs and then moved to third on a Davis single up the middle. But Oakland starter Matt Trausch got junior Tyler Barnett to groundout to third to end the inning.

Willoughby retired the first two batters in the fifth but then hit Stafford and walked Wilson to bring up Heath who lined a ball towards Davis who just got a glove on it and tipped it past Colonel rightfielder Shawn Flora allowing both Stafford and Wilson to score. Flora relayed the ball to Barnett who nailed Heath at third to end the threat.

Eastern got a run back in the sixth as junior Joe Oliver reached on an error to begin the inning, stole second and then moved to third on a grounder to second by Flora. Sophomore Dylan McMaine knocked in the run with a sacrifice fly to left.

The Colonels threatened in the seventh, putting runners on first and second with one out. But junior Tony Wells grounded into a fielder's choice and then got picked off first with Oliver at the plate to end the inning.

The Golden Grizzlies added two insurance runs in the ninth on an RBI single from Tommy Jablonski and an RBI groundout from Rob Merkle. Trausch picked up the victory, allowing just an unearned run in 6.2 innings of work. Mike Takashima pitched two scoreless innings to pick up the save.

Eastern returns to action tomorrow on the final day of the EKU Early Bird Tournament, hosting the Long Island Blackbirds at Turkey Hughes Field at 10 a.m. The Colonels will also take on Oakland at 2 p.m.