Eagles Dig Hole with Early Home Runs
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 1 |
|
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0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | X | 13 | 13 | 3 |
Williamsburg, Ky. - The Eagles had their opening round game on Monday evening versus the #1 team in the Williamsburg Regional - University of the Cumberlands. The Patriots of Cumberlands showed early why they were the top team in the regional by getting several home runs in the first few innings. The early lead would go on to a 13-5 defeat for the Eagles, but their tournament is not over. They will face the Rams of the University of Mobile on Wednesday at 11 am with the winner staying to play again and the loser to end their 2023 season.
Ethan Foley would get the start in game one of the regional for the Eagles and he had a good first inning where he did not allow a run. After the first, the Eagles started having their issues of keeping runs off the board by the Patriots. Foley would make it through 3 and 1/3 innings before being relieved by Hunter Paulsen. Foley ended his day with 2 strikeouts but he would give up five runs. Paulsen would also have 2 strikeouts, but he would only pitch one and 2/3 innings where he would give up another three runs.
The remaining pitching would also have its issues keeping the Patriots from scoring. It was a tough day on the mound for the Eagles and the run deficit was too much to overcome. Blake Rogers, Hal Stelljus, and Gabriel Sjostrom would each get an inning for the Eagles to finish up the game.
Reinhardt Pitching vs Cumberlands
| PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ETHAN FOLEY (L, 7-5) | 3.1 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| HUNTER PAULSEN | 1.2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| BLAKE ROGERS | 1.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| HAL STELLJES | 1.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| GABRIEL SJOSTROM | 1.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Totals | 8.0 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 5 |
Offensively, the Eagles had trouble getting their bats going, which is somewhat a carryover from the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Tournament last week. The Eagles did have a game in the AAC Tournament where they had one of their best run-production games of the season, but lately, the runs have been hard to find for the Eagles.
A bright spot in today's game was a solo home run by left fielder, Jamel Rookard, who homered over the left field wall getting the Eagles' first run of the game. Reinhardt was able to get four more runs in the game in the eighth inning when the Patriots' pitching had some issues and walked in four runs.
In total, the Eagles were able to get six hits in the game.
The tournament schedule has no games scheduled for Tuesday as bad weather is supposed to come through, but the tournament is scheduled to resume on Wednesday where the Eagles will face Mobile at 11 am. The original game was scheduled for Tuesday at 2:30 pm EST so stay tuned to www.reinhardteagles.com and www.NAIA.org for any updates to the schedule.