WATERBURY, Conn. – Resilience may be the only way to this Post University Baseball team this season. In a game where they trailed on three separate occasions in their CACC Baseball Championship opener versus South Division two seed Goldey-Beacom College, the Eagles fought back each time eventually coming out on top as senior outfielder Danny Gill walked it off with his RBI single in the ninth.

THE BASICS

N#1 Post University 9, S#2 Goldey-Beacom College 8 

N#1 Post University (26-19)

S#2 Goldey-Beacom College (33-18)

HOW IT HAPPENED
For the first three innings of the affair, it was essentially a pitchers' duel between senior right-handers Justin Jump and Matt Semon before the Lightning would strike for four runs in the fourth inning without any hits. But with two outs things would unravel as an error at first by junior first baseman Chris Corchado followed by three walks and a hit batter for Semon led to three runs for Goldey-Beacom. The final run of the half inning came from a passed ball issued to junior catcher Jimmy Brennan, making it a 4-0 ballgame.

But the Eagles would respond and get themselves back into the affair as two walks and a three-run home run by senior outfielder Jaylen Kelley made it 4-3 before back-to-back RBI singles from senior outfielder Michael Pavelchak and senior shortstop Evan Cornwell to give Post their first lead of the game, 5-4, after four innings.

Exiting after just four innings, Semon was lifted for junior right-hander Brennan Holligan who would allow three runs in the fifth to give the Lightning the lead back, 7-5. Two errors by Pavelchak on hits from sophomore outfielder Anthony Charles and junior infielder Dante DiSabatino plated those runs after a two-out bunt single from senior infielder Kyle Walker got the rally going.

Launching his second home run of the game, Kelley cut the two-run deficit back down to one, 7-6, with his solo shot in the fifth, and then once more the Lightning took a two-run again with a single by DiSabatino in the seventh, 8-6. However, three unanswered runs would send the Eagles into the winner side of the bracket to face Felician via a trio of singles over the final three innings.

It started with an RBI single for junior infielder Hunter Keller in the seventh and then a game-tying single for Brennan in the eighth to send the game into the ninth deadlocked at eight all. With a runner on third and only one out, graduate outfielder DJ Caron helped keep things tied at eight all as he slid to make the catch with DiSabatino at the dish in foul territory and from his knees threw home to retire Charles breaking for home.

In the bottom of the frame, junior third baseman Justin Rivera led off with a single and Kelley followed that up with a single of his own to put runners on first and second with nobody out. Following a sacrifice by Keller, Gill finished the job with an RBI single to the wall helping the Eagles come all the way back for the 9-8 victory in their first game of the CACC Tournament.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Michael Pavelchak has reached base safely in 26 straight games after going 2-for-4 with an RBI, a walk, and a run scored
• With 187 career hits after today, Michael Pavelchak is six hits away from tying Dan Luisi for the most hits in Post University Baseball program history
• Post University remains 19-7 on the season when they score the game's first run while moving to 7-12 when allowing the first run of the game
• In the game, 16 of the 17 runs came with two outs in each of the innings they were scored besides the winning run which came with just one out

WHO'S NEXT
Post University faces off against North Division two seed Felician University at 11:00 AM at Municipal Stadium tomorrow morning with a bid to the CACC Championship Game this Saturday on the line. During the regular season, the Eagles split with the Golden Falcons in their doubleheader at home, winning 11-1 and losing 9-3 after winning 4-1 two days before that on the road.