LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pa. – It was a pair of solid pitching performances for Post University Baseball on Thursday against Lincoln University on the road that helped push the Eagles' win streak to three consecutive games with a pair of seven-inning wins, 11-1 and 8-6. Freshman right-hander Hector Cuevas threw 5 2/3 innings of no-hit ball, finishing with 10 strikeouts in the game one win, while six relief innings from sophomore right-hander Logan Pulitano yielded him 10 strikeouts as well in the comeback win for Post, who is now 10-7 in conference play. 

THE BASICS

Post University 11, Lincoln University 1 (7 Innings)
 
Post University 8, Lincoln University 6 (7 Innings)
 
Post University (16-17, 10-7 CACC)
 
Lincoln University (5-20, 2-14 CACC)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Game 1: Post University 11, Lincoln University 1 (7 Innings)
Cueva's start would begin as a mixed bag after he struck out three in the first inning while walking one, before coming back in the second to allow four batters to reach via walk or hit by pitch, while allowing his lone run on a wild pitch. After allowing five walks in just two innings, Cuevas would settle in the rest of the way to throw 105 pitches en route to his second win of the season, while recording a career-high 10 strikeouts in the process.

Heading into the bottom of the sixth with a no-hitter still going, Cuevas would have plenty of offense to back him up as Post scored six runs up to that point after putting up a four-spot in the top of the frame. Graduate outfielder Andrew Hartman, who led off the affair with an RBI single, doubled in another run in that sixth as part of his 3-for-5 day with two doubles, three RBIs, and a run scored. Hartman was one of four Post batters to record three-plus hits, along with sophomore infielder Gill Dolan, who went 4-for-5 with two RBIs and three runs scored, junior outfielder Kevan Diaz (3-for-4, double, and two runs scored), and freshman infielder Ryan Davie (3-for-4, two doubles, two RBIs, two runs scored).

On the 100th pitch of his outing, Cuevas would allow a single to senior first baseman Keith Gardner as he chopped a ball just past graduate infielder Hunter Keller's glove through the left side for a base hit. Senior outfielder Harby Valera would come into the seventh inning to close out the ten-run mercy rule, after Dolan, Hartman, Davie, and junior outfielder Joey Cohen all combined to bring in four runs in the top of the inning, making it an 11-1 game. 

Game 2: Post University 8, Lincoln University 6 (7 Innings)
It was a rocky game two for Post until the later innings as junior right-hander Zion Fraser was tagged by Lincoln for four runs in the first inning alone, after Hartman scored on a wild pitch to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead in the top half. Three run-scoring singles, along with a walk issued by Fraser, led to the scoring for the Lions, who knocked him out of the game after just one inning, in which he allowed five runs on six hits with a walk and a hit batter.

In his place came Pulitano, who allowed one run of the two second-inning runs that Lincoln scraped across to make it a 6-1 game, before shutting down the offense the rest of the afternoon. The sophomore righty ended up picking up his third win of the year on the mound after Post came back from the 8-6 victory, throwing six innings of relief in which he allowed one run on three hits with a career-high 10 strikeouts as Cuevas did, along with one walk and one wild pitch.

Senior left-hander Pedro Santos was handed his first loss of the season for the Lions after he came into the sixth inning for sophomore right-hander Ethan Craig, allowing the go-ahead run to score. In the sixth inning alone, three batters reached via walk for the Eagles, while wild pitches allowed runners to move about the basepaths as Keller was hit by a pitch to move Post within two runs, 6-4, after they had snagged two runs in the third via an error and an RBI single from senior catcher Manny Contreras.

It would be Diaz who dealt the game-tying blow with his RBI double to the right side, followed by a go-ahead double from Davie, which was expanded on in the seventh as another run came across on a passed ball by the Lions. Pulitano would run into some trouble in the bottom of the seventh, allowing runners to reach second and third with two outs following a wild pitch, before striking out junior utilityman Fredrick Perry to secure the doubleheader sweep.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Hector Cuevas moved to 2-2 on the mound this season after striking out a career-high 10 batters in six innings of work, in which he allowed just one run on one hit with five walks -- Cuevas had his no-hitter broken up by Keith Gardner with two outs in the sixth inning
• Now 3-0 this season on the mound, Logan Pulitano picked up the relief win after throwing six innings and allowing just one run on three hits with a career-high 10 strikeouts and only one walk
• Evan Cornwell did not play in today's doubleheader, keeping his career total of hits at 164, Cornwell is 29 hits away from tying Dan Luisi for the most hits in program history at Post University 
• Andrew Hartman recorded three hits in game one, followed by a sixth-inning hit in game two, extending his on-base streak to 23 consecutive games -- The last time Hartman failed to reach base safely was against Cedarville University on February 28th

 
WHO'S NEXT
Post University closes its three-game series with Lincoln University on Saturday at 12:00 PM at Municipal Stadium.