RICHMOND, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University baseball team opened its season Saturday with a 14-inning, 7-7 tie against the Bucknell University Bison. Behind solid pitching and opportunistic hitting, the Colonels rallied from several deficits, but were never able to pull ahead of the Bison. The four-hour and eleven-minute game was eventually called due to darkness.

“We did some great things for our first game of the season,” head coach Elvis Dominguez said. “We swung the bats well, we pitched well, but we made key mistakes that took us out of some innings.”

Trailing 4-2 heading into the bottom of the eighth, the Colonels loaded the bases with no outs. Junior Matt Davis scored on an error before senior Clint Seymour delivered one of the biggest hits of the day for the Colonels, driving an RBI single into right field and scoring junior Dylan McMaine for the tying run.

In the 11th, the Bison again put the Colonels in jeopardy of an opening-day loss when Andrew Brouse scored on an error by Colonel shortstop Tyler Barnett, putting Bucknell up by a run.

Barnett, however, responded immediately by leading off the bottom half of the inning with a single, and then scoring on a clutch, two-out bloop single by McMaine, tying the game and forcing more innings.

Then, in the top of the 13th, Brouse again hurt the Colonels, this time with a triple to open the inning. He would score on an RBI single, and the Bison would add another run for a seemingly safe two-point lead in the relatively low-scoring affair.

But the Colonels would not submit. Barnett led off the bottom half of the inning with a single, followed by a double to left center by Davis. UK transfer Anthony Ottrando followed with a hard hit single to right center, scoring both Barnett and Davis, and again tying the score. However, after a scoreless 14th by both teams, the seesaw battle was called a tie due to visibility issues.

“I’m really proud of our guys,” Dominguez said. “We had our backs against the wall, and we kept battling back. We never quit.”

Preseason All-American Christian Friedrich started the game for the Colonels, giving up three earned runs and striking out 11 in only five innings of work. Friedrich gave way to junior Erich Hash, who pitched a very solid five innings, giving up only one earned run on two hits. Senior McKenzie Willoughby closed the game for the Colonels, pitching the last four innings and giving up one earned run on four hits.

Matthew Wilson pitched brilliantly for the Bison, going seven innings with only one earned run and 10 strikeouts. Jimmy Murphy also came in and pitched well for Bucknell, going 6.2 innings and only giving up three earned runs.

Barnett led the Colonels offensively, going 4-for-7 with three runs scored. McMaine also had a fine day at the plate going 3-for-5 with one run scored and one RBI, as did freshman left fielder Ryan Faidley, who racked up three hits in six tries in his first game as a Colonel.

The Bison were led offensively by Brouse, who went 3-for-7 and Mark Angelo, who also had three hits.

The Colonels will play Bucknell again tomorrow at 10:00 a.m., and then take on Toledo at 2:00 p.m.

Toledo 9, Bucknell 7

In the first game of the Early Bird Tournament, the University of Toledo outlasted Bucknell University 9-7. After both starting pitchers were hit often, Toledo reliever Matt Kuna came in to get the win, giving up just four hits and three earned runs in three innings of work. Bucknell reliever David Solan only faced one batter, but he gave up an earned run against that batter and ended up with the loss. Toledo pitcher Jeff Cinadr got the save.

Offensively, the Rockets of Toledo were led by Jake Oester who went 2-for-4 on the day with two RBIs and one run scored. Ryan Satterlee also had a stellar day at the plate, collecting three hits in four trips.

For the Bison, DH John Avanzino led the way at the plate, going 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs and one run scored.

Bucknell will play EKU tomorrow at 10:00 a.m., while Toledo will play the Colonels right after that game at 2:00 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 24

Bucknell vs. EKU(H) - 10:00 am

EKU vs. Toledo(H) - 2:00 pm