Glenville, W.Va. – The Golden Eagles fall 9-8 in a ten inning battle with the Marauders of Millersville.
The Basics:
Location: Sue Morris Sports Complex
Score: UC 8, MU 9
Records: UC 4-3 (0-0 MEC), Millersville 7-2 (0-0 PSAC)
How it Happened:
Charleston and Atlantic region rival Millersville were sure to put on a show in the final due of play at the Sue Morris Sports Complex, and they did as the teams had to go extra innings to see out a winner.
The first seven innings of play were all Millersville, the Marauders scoring five over the course of seven innings. Although the Golden Eagles had been trailing the entire game, they were not going to go down quietly.
In the top of the eighth the Golden Eagles strung together three hits, good enough for two runs to cut their deficit, only trailing by three, 5-2. Dwayne Sumler took care of the Marauder offense in the bottom half of the inning, striking out the side and getting his team back to the plate in the top of the ninth.
With three outs to work with, Charleston had some help from the Millersville pitching staff, collecting two walks and a hit by pitch to load the bases with just one out in the inning. The next batter up in Carter Rust created some chaos as he grounded over to the third baseman, but a throwing error allowed two Golden Eagles to score, still just with one out. Another error by the Millersville defense once again allowed Charleston to score, the game all tied at 5-5. The Marauders got out of the inning, but the damage had already been done.
Dwayne Sumler once again went to work on the bump, sitting the Marauders down in order, sending the game into the tenth inning.
In the top of the inning Charleston plated three runs, two from a Finn Ellis home run and the third by way of a Carter Rust single. With a three-run lead, Charleston headed back on defense, needing three outs to close out the game.
After two walks and a single, the bases were loaded with one out in the bottom of the tenth for the Marauders who trailed by three. Charleston arm Dwayne Sumler struck out the next Millersville batter, just needing one more out to pick up the win for his squad. Unfortunately, the Marauders were not done yet, working two, two out, bases loaded walks to cut their deficit to one, trailing 8-7. It was Millersville hitter Kovach who packed the final punch, scoring two runs with a single up the middle, giving his squad the extra inning victory over Charleston.
