Eastern Kentucky University Athletics

Box Score (pdf)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – David Alvarez and Pedro Moreno combined for 10 hits, eight RBIs and seven runs scored to lead the Colonels to a 16-11 victory over Bellarmine in the series opener on Thursday in Louisville.
 
Alvarez finished 5-for-6 with five RBIs and two runs scored.  Moreno went 5-for-6 with a home run, a walk, five runs scored and three RBIs.
 
EKU grabbed a first-inning lead on an RBI single to center field from Alvarez that scored Moreno.  Alvarez did it again in the third.  This time with Moreno on third, Alvarez singled through the right side for a 2-0 lead.
 
With Moreno on second in the fifth, Alvarez drove him in for the third time in the game, this time with a double to right field to make it 3-0.  Khaleel Pratt broke up the Alvarez-Moreno show with a triple down the right field line to bring home Alvarez.  Jackson Cauthron capped the 3-run inning when he drove in a run while reaching on an error for a 5-0 lead.
 
The Knights got on the board in the bottom half of the fifth when Land Akers hit a 1-out, 2-run home run over the wall in left center.
 
EKU answered in the top of the sixth with three more runs.  Alvarez drove in his fourth, plating Kobe Benson with a double through the right side.  With the bases loaded later in the inning, Ricco Longo brought home two with a single through the left side to make it 8-2.
 
Another home run allowed Bellarmine to stay in the game.  With two outs and two on in the bottom of the sixth, Bryce Anderson sent the ball sailing over the wall in left field to cut the deficit to 8-5.
 
Moreno got into the home run race in the top of the seventh.  With Benson on base, the senior shortstop hit a ball that cleared the wall in left center and gave the visitors a 10-5 advantage.
 
The Knights came back again to stay within striking distance.  Luca Hoerger's 2-run, 2-out double to right center in the bottom of the seventh closed the gap to 10-7.
 
The Colonels put the game away with a big eighth inning.  Cauthron drove in two with a triple down the right field line.  Boone Shevey completed Cauthron's trip around the bases with a single to right center, putting EKU ahead 13-7.  Moreno drove in Shevey with a single to right center and then scored on a wild pitch.  Alvarez capped the 6-run inning when he beat out a ground ball to short and Gunnar Bingham scored to make it 16-7.
 
Hayden Collins started for the Colonels (16-37, 8-20 ASUN) and earned the win after pitching a season-high 5 2/3 innings.  He allowed five runs on nine hits and two walks.  Clay Cartledge gave his team 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief late in the game.
 
Pratt finished 2-for-4 with two walks, two runs and one RBI.
 
Hoerger had a 4-for-4 day with a walk, three runs and two RBIs for Bellarmine (19-32, 11-17 ASUN).  Luke Scales went 4-for-5 with two runs scored.
 
Game two of the series is set for Friday at 3 p.m. ET.