Eagles Drop Conference Doubleheader to Elizabethtown

HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Juniata baseball team suffered a series sweep from the Elizabethtown Blue Jays with two losses Sunday afternoon. Elizabethtown took game one 6-1 and game two 10-4.

The Eagles took an early 1-0 lead in game one on a RBI-single from Isaac Kline (Everett, Pa. / Bedford) that scored Anthony Lombardo (Altoona, Pa. / Altoona Area) in the bottom half of the first.

Solid defense from Juniata kept the Blue Jays off the board until the top of the fourth when ETown would take a 2-1 lead. 

JC found ways to get on base but were kept off the scoreboard the remainder of game one. Elizabethtown consistently put up runs through the seventh to take the 6-1 victory.

Caleb Pepperday (Phillipsburg, Pa. / Phillipsburg-Osceola) tossed 5.0 innings for the Eagles as the starting pitcher and recorded one strikeout. Hunter Price (Huntingdon, Pa. / Huntingdon Area) relieved Pepperday in the sixth and also struckout one. David DeFreest (Duxburry, Vt. / Harwood Union) closed out the game on the mound. 

Zach Tobash (Macungie, Pa. / Allentown Central) and Kline led the offensive front for JC in game one, each going 2-for-3 at the plate. Joe Klusman (Wilmington, Del. / St. Elizabeth) and Nick Stubbs (Hagerstown, Md. / South Hagerstown) showed patience at the plate and drew a walk each.

The Blue Jays got a jump on Juniata and went up 4-0 in the top of the first of game two. The Eagles responded in the bottom half of the inning, starting with a leadoff single from Stubbs. Lombardo followed with a single out to right centerfield. Chris Schreder (Lititz, Pa. / Lancaster Catholic) knocked in Stubbs with a single out to right field. Klusman drew a walk later in the inning before the Blue Jays would make a pitching change. 

Tobash hit a sacrifice fly out to centerfield to bring in Lombardo, cutting the ETown lead in half.

In the bottom of the third, Tobash brought in Schreder on a groundout. Schreder had led off the inning with a walk, followed by a single from Kline. Klusman advanced the runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt as Tobash approached the plate. 

Tobash would pick up his third RBI of the game with a single through the left side that brought in Kline.

Kline started on the mound in game two for the Eagles and went 5.0 innings with four strikeouts. J.D. Weyant (New Paris, Pa. / Chestnut Ridge) came in as relief and tossed the final two innings, giving up just three hits and striking out one batter.

Juniata takes on the Scranton Royals in Scranton, Pa. Sat. April 16 and Sun. April 17 as they look to rebound from the Landmark Conference sweep. First pitch of the doubleheader on April 16 is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

The series concluded Juniata baseball's Vs. Cancer Foundation fundraising efforts. The Eagles raised over $5,000 for the cause and shaved their heads Sunday morning in support of those battling cancer. View a timelapse below: