CAROL STREAM, Ill. – For the second day in a row at Pfund Stadium, runs for the Edgewood College baseball team came a little too late for the sake of the Eagles. Edgewood College dropped both games, first to Concordia College-Moorhead and then to Wheaton College (Ill.), by identical scores of 9-3.
In the opening game, Edgewood College (4-9) answered a first inning Cobber run off Eagle starter Blake Bieri with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning. Danny Appino singled and moved over to second on a Jonathan Roehler sacrifice bunt. After moving to third on a fly ball, Nick Lehner singled back up the middle to bring home Appino. However, Concordia-Moorhead added runs in the second, third, fifth and seventh innings to build a 7-1 lead.
Nick Cheaney pushed another run across in the Eagle half of the seventh with a pinch hit single to score Tim Nunn from third. After the Cobbers added two more in the ninth, Edgewood College closed the scoring with a Casey Seelow RBI down the left filed line to plate Jeff Tucker.
Tucker was the Eagles leading hitter, going 3-for-4 with a double and scoring one run. Edgewood College had seven hits in the game. Bieri suffered the loss, going four innings and allowing four earned runs. Steve Gavin and Erick Wendt pitched in relief of Bieri.
Wheaton College (9-6) opened the second game with two runs in the first off Eagles starting pitcher Adam Eck, but Eck limited the Thunder to just two hits over the next three innings to keep the score at 2-0. Edgewood College looked poised to take the lead in the sixth inning when Andrew Lauritzen singled home Appino to cut the Thunder's lead to 2-1. In the top of the seventh, the Eagles put their leadoff runner in scoring position but couldn't tie the game.
That proved costly in the bottom of the seventh when Wheaton College scored five runs unearned run off four different Eagle pitchers to take control of the game at 7-1. The Thunder added two more runs in the eighth for a 9-1 advantage. Edgewood College put together a late rally in the bottom of the ninth, scoring two runs on a 2-RBI double by Callen Gavic. The Eagles loaded the bases, but didn't score again.
Appino and Lauritzen each had two hits in the game, but that accounted for four of the Eagles five base hits in the game. Lauritzen also added his fifth stolen base of the season. Eck took the loss for the Eagles, allowing two earned runs and striking out four batters. Only four of Wheaton's nine runs were earned.
Edgewood College will now look forward to their first NACC weekend of the season. The Eagles begin conference play on Saturday at Loves Park, Ill. with a doubleheader against Rockford University. On Sunday, Edgewood College will host Dominican University in their home opener at Stampfl Field in Verona.
