BRADENTON, Fla. – Cole White's two-out single off the left-center field fence scored Barnes Connell with the game-winning run with two outs in the bottom of the 12th inning as the Easttern Kentucky baseball team fell to Army on Saturday evening at Wynn Field. The Colonels drop to 6-5 with the loss.
Sophomore preseason All-American Christian Friedrich was stellar for the Colonels, allowing just two runs in 6.0 innings while striking out 10. Junior Joe Oliver led the offense, going 3-for-5 with an RBI.
Army jumped on Friedrich early, registering a run on three hits in the bottom of the first inning. Caleb Love stroked a leadoff single to right field, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Barnes Connell, stole third base and scored on an infield single by Milan Dinga.
The Colonels (6-5) nicked Army preseason All-American Nick Hill for an unearned run in the second inning as Oliver reached on an infield single, advanced to second on a passed ball, moved to third on a groundout and scored on freshman Breck Norment's single through the left side of the infield.
That would be the only damage inflicted upon Hill by Eastern Kentucky as the Colonels placed just two runners in scoring position over the next five innings.
Army pushed ahead the go-ahead run in the fifth, scoring a single run off Friedrich when Love was hit by a pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Dinga. But the Black Knights could not hold the slim 2-1 margin as Eastern Kentucky struck for two runs off relievers Tyler Anderegg and Drew Clothier in the eighth inning to move in front 3-2.
Army responded in kind to knot the score in the bottom of the stanza when Dinga lined a leadoff single to right field and later scored on an RBI fielder's choice groundout by J.P. Polchinski. Polchinski was safe at first base on the play when the return throw from Colonel shortstop Tyler Barnett eluded first baseman Clint Seymour on a potential inning-ending double-play, allowing Dinga to score the equalizer.
Neither team would score again until the 12th inning as Eastern Kentucky's Eric Hash and Army's Austin Grimes (1-1) traded zeros out of the bullpen. Hash allowed just a run in 4.0 innings of work while Grimes tossed three shutout innings out of the 'pen for the Black Knights.
In fact, when Connell ripped a single up the middle with one out in the 12th off Alex Napier (0-1), it marked Army's first base hit since the eighth inning. Dinga followed with a single to right field, with Connell advancing to third base on the play. After Kyle Stramara grounded out unassisted to Seymour at first base, White smashed Napier's first pitch breaking ball off the fence in left-center field for the game-winning hit. The run marked the first one allowed in Napier's 9.2 innings of work this season.
The Colonels return to action on Sunday, taking on the Georgetown Hoyas at 10:30 a.m.
