Saturday Box Score  |  Sunday Box Score

FLORENCE, Ala. – Eastern Kentucky University split the final two games of its series at North Alabama on Saturday and Sunday.  The Colonels lost 6-2 in Saturday's late night affair and picked up a 3-2 win in Sunday's afternoon tilt.
 
Game 3 of the Series (Sunday, May 11, 2025)
EKU broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the eighth inning of Sunday's contest.  With one out, Jackson Ginther singled and then moved to third on a single from Mauri Bejarano.  Colby Ott plated the go-ahead run with a single to left field.
 
North Alabama got two runners on with one out in the bottom of the eighth, but Hayden Collins got two fly balls to end the threat.  A 2-out walk in the bottom of the ninth got the tying run on base for UNA before Collins got another flyball to end the game.  The junior righty pitched the final 2 1/3 innings without allowing a run to earn the win.
 
The Lions (20-29, 13-14 ASUN) got on the board in the bottom of the third when Petey Craska scored from third on a double play ball.  Two innings later, Craska made it 2-0 with a solo home run to right field.
 
EKU (11-41, 8-19 ASUN) tied it up in the top of the sixth inning.  With one out, Silas Shaffer reached on an infield single to third.  After a fly ball, Bejarano sent a 3-2 offering over the wall in right field to knot the game at 2-2.
 
Freshman Burkley Bounds, who had made 17 relief appearances but had not started a game this season, turned in a quality start for the Colonels.  The right-hander pitched a season-high 6 2/3 innings.  He allowed two runs on seven hits, walked two and struck out five.  It was just the third quality start by an EKU pitcher this season.
 
Bejarano went 2-for-4 with a run and two RBIs.  Ott finished 3-for-4 with an RBI.
 
Craska had a 2-for-4 game with two runs and an RBI for the Lions.  Bryant Loving was 3-for-4.
 
The Colonels will conclude the season with a 3-game series at Bellarmine starting Thursday at 3 p.m.
 
Game 2 of the Series (Saturday, May 10, 2025)
EKU tied Saturday's game, which began at 10:30 p.m. ET after a day of rain, on two straight hits to start the second inning.  AJ Groeneveld led off with a double to right center and then scored on Ott's single through the right side.
 
North Alabama broke the tie and took the lead for good on Jonathan Lane's RBI double to left field in the bottom of the third.  The Lions scored once in the fifth and once in the seventh to move in front 4-1.  Ryker Billingsley put the game away with a 2-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning.
 
Groeneveld capped the scoring with a home run to start the ninth.  He finished 3-for-3 with two runs and an RBI. 
 
Billingsley had a 3-for-4 game with a run and two RBIs for North Alabama.  UNA starter Anthony Pingeton pitched a complete game, allowing two runs on five hits and striking out 11.