Box Score
MOREHEAD, Ky. – A solo home run by
Mandy Alvarez in the top of the 10th inning, his second of the game, sent Eastern Kentucky to an 11-10 win at Morehead State on Friday.
With a 2-0 count, Alvarez blasted a shot over the wall in left center, the deepest part of the park for his fourth home run of the season. He doubled his season total in one game. Alvarez finished 3-for-5 with a walk, three runs scored and two RBIs.
Cameron Langfels (3-1) retired the side in order in the ninth with the game tied and then allowed just one base runner in the 10th with EKU leading by one. He struck out the final batter of the game with the tying run at second base.
The two teams combined for 33 hits.
The Colonels (7-14, 2-4 OVC) had a 10-5 lead going into the bottom of the eighth, but the Eagles platted five to tie it. Alex Stephens cut the deficit to two with an RBI double down the left field line. Braxton Morris followed with a 2-run single to center to tie the score.
Back-to-back home runs by
TJ Alas and Alvarez led to a five-run sixth inning for the Colonels. The game was tied 3-3 when Alas blasted a two-run home run over the wall in center field. It was his sixth homer of the season. The junior entered the season with just six home runs in his first two seasons combined. After a pitching change, Alvarez sent a ball to center that just barely cleared the net. It was his third of the season.
Consecutive two-out doubles later in the inning by
Luke Wurzelbacher and
Doug Teegarden brought home two more runs for an 8-3 lead.
The Eagles (11-13, 3-7 OVC) put two on in the bottom of the sixth in an attempt to answer Eastern's big inning, but Logan Hershenow's second strike out of the frame ended the rally before it could get started. Coming into the game, EKU had allowed 32 runs in the sixth inning this season, 11 more than any other inning.
Morehead State cut the deficit to three with two runs in the seventh. The Eagles had the bases loaded, but reliever Hunter Dunn struck out Ryan Kent to end the inning.
Wurzelbacher's two-run home run over the wall in right center in the eighth inning gave Eastern its 10-5 lead. The junior went 3-for-4 with a walk, four RBIs and two runs scored. He entered the day with just three RBIs all season.
Alas finished 2-for-5 with a run and two driven in.
Ben Fisher had two hits in five at bats, scored once and drove in a pair.
Kent and Brandon Rawe led Morehead State with four hits each.
Game two of the three-game series is scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. in Morehead.
