Eagles Take Game One of Union Series

David Finney

Waleska, GA - What was supposed to be game one from Barbourville, Kentucky ended up being game one in Waleska for the weekend series with Union College. With the possibility of snow in Kentucky, the series was moved to Waleska so the games could be played. The Eagles were bringing in a respectable 25-14 record into the series with Union and they are hoping to add more wins to this record as the weekend continues. There was reason to be confident in this game as the Eagles' Ace, Pable Barquero, was headed to the mound just as he had done the past several Fridays.

Barquero has been phenomenal the past few starts and he has had a terrific season to date as the number one pitcher for the Eagles. His efficiency in his last couple of starts has been second to none and he was recognized as Pitcher of the Week for his efforts a week ago. In this game with Union, he would have many good moments, however, the ride was not as smooth as the past few games as Barquero had a few situations he had to work through. The main situation would happen in the second inning of the game when the Bulldogs would put up five runs on the Eagles. First, let's clarify that the five runs were all unearned because of a fielding error that happened that should have been the final out of the inning, however, Union was able to figure out Barquero for a short moment with hits and very good at-bats.

After the error, the Bulldogs were able to load up the bases from a couple of walks and a hit. A walk would bring home one Union batter, and then a double to right-center would get the bases moving and bring all three runners home. In a small moment of time, Union would tie the game and then take the lead before the final out of the top of the second. 

Barquero would get in 6.2 innings before being relieved by Jet Kern who pitched the final 2.1 innings and he would do a very good job. Barquero would leave the game with 4 strikeouts, 4 balls, 7 hits, and 4 shutout innings. It was a pretty good appearance for Barquero, however, the inning with the five runs did the most damage against the Eagles. Jet Kern would come in after the first out in the seventh and did a great job on the mound. He was able to strike out 3 batters and only gave up one hit. Barquero would get the win in this game giving him 11 wins on the season and zero losses.  The Eagles' Ace just does an incredible job while on the mound!

On the offensive side for the Eagles, the batters started off on a right note getting three runs in the first inning. The top of the order with Jacob Profit and Xavier Arnette did a lot of damage to the Bulldogs' pitching. Profit went 3 for 6 scoring 3 runs with 3 RBIs and Arnette went 4 for 6 scoring 2 runs and getting 5 RBIs. Patrick Baggett made his mark in the middle of the lineup going 2 for 2 RBIs and one run scored. Tucker Zdunich only went 1 for 4 hitting which is under his typical performance, however, he was able to score 3 runs for the Eagles.

The Eagles did a pretty good job hitting in this game, however, the Bulldogs had some pitching issues of their own with a few runs scored by walks and an error in the first inning which allowed Baggett to get on base and score.  The Eagles got three runs in the first inning from Profit, Arnette, and Baggett. The Eagles put up another run in the third inning to chip away at the early lead by the Eagles when Shayne Campbell singled to center to score Zdunich. 

The biggest inning for the Eagles came in the fifth inning where the Eagles scored seven runs. Arnette, Zdunich, Baggett, Dawson Johns, Profit, and Jarrett Burny all scored. The fifth inning ended up being the difference-maker in the game putting the game out of reach for the Bulldogs. The Eagles would have another big inning in the sixth where the Eagles would put up 5 more runs. Lance Dockery, Nick Sanders, Dalton Turnbow, Profit, and Burney all scored making the score 16-6 for the Eagles. The Bulldogs would score one run in the seventh to make the final score 16-7.

The doubleheader day will be tomorrow when the two will play at 1 pm and 4 pm. With the hot bats and great pitching from the Eagles, hopefully, there will be a few more wins to add to the grand total.