Eagles Baseball Opens 2022 Season with a Big Win

David Finney | photo by Holly Heath

Waleska, GA - The Reinhardt Eagles Baseball team opened its 2022 season on Thursday afternoon with a two-day series with the University of Pikeville. Coach Jonathan Burton is starting his fourth season as head coach at Reinhardt University and his fourteenth overall as head coach.  He and his staff have the Ken White Baseball Field looking great and the team has been working hard getting prepared for the season.

Pablo Barquero would be tapped as the starting pitcher for the first game and he came out throwing great. He did give up a couple of hits in the first inning, but quickly calmed down and got three quick outs with one being a strikeout. In the bottom half of the first inning, the bats would come alive early for the Eagles. Patrick Baggett, Matty Maurer, and Albert Mora all singled and the Eagles were able to put up four runs in the inning. Baggett picked up one RBI and Mora picked up two.

Barquero would continue his shutout baseball getting two more strikeouts in the second inning paving the way for the hitters to do their thing in the bottom half of the inning. Jarrett Burney was able to get a triple and he was hit in by Shayne Campbell. Shortly after, Mora would get another hit in the second and get another additional RIB knocking in Campbell. Albert Mora had a tremendous afternoon at the plate going 3 for 3 and scoring one run.

Barquero would pitch very well for this afternoon game holding the Pikeville Bears to just five hits over the 5 and ⅔ innings that he pitched. The Bears would eventually settle down as they held Reinhardt scoreless in the next two innings, however, they could not hold them down in the bottom of the fifth. Maurer, Mora, and Nick Sanders all singled in this inning while Baggett and Profit both picked up doubles. It was a big inning for Reinhardt as they would pick up seven runs extending their lead to 9-0.

Barquero was able to pitch the first two outs of the sixth inning and then he was pulled for Carson Bennink to finish out the game. It did not take long for Bennink to make his mark as he started out with a strikeout to end the top half of the sixth inning. Xavier Arnette would get a double in the bottom of the sixth creating another chance for the Eagles to put up more runs. Shayne Campbell would get a hit which would bring home Arnette and Jacob Profit. The bottom of the six-inning ended with Reinhardt leading 15-0.

It was set for Bennink to finish out this game for the Eagles. He did give up one hit, but he struck out two batters and got the last batter for Pikeville to pop up to end the game in dominant fashion, 15-0. Coach Burton was excited about the win, but he had this to say about the start of the season and his team, "Opening day has a lot of emotion, and it's important not to play emotional. Our guys did a good job of that today. We will see what type of team we are going to be this season and if we can come back unsatisfied or satisfied. The teams that play in late May and early June don't rest on one win, those teams show up each day with a new focus to win the day. We need to flush this and focus on how we can improve each time we play together."

The Eagles will be ready to go again on Friday as they finish out the three-game series with a doubleheader. The first pitch is at 12 pm and the second game will begin around 3 pm. Come out for a great afternoon of baseball and see this talented Eagle Baseball team!