Eagles Win 13-12 Duel with Messiah via Walk Off

HUNTINGDON, Pa.-The Juniata baseball team won in the bottom of the ninth, 12-11, when Adam Kipp (Mt. Wolf, Pa. / Northeastern) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, Wednesday afternoon at Langdon-Goodale Field.

The Falcons struck first, scoring four in the first inning and tacking on another in the second to lead 5-0. The Eagles got on the board in the bottom of the second.

Isaac Maclay (Belleville, Pa. / Mifflin County High School) started the inning off with a walk. Two batters later, Hunter Price (Huntingdon, Pa. / Huntingdon Area) singled to center while Maclay went from first to third. Price got to second on a wild pitch while Maclay scored. Ryan McClain (Hughesville, Pa. / Hughesville) singled up the middle to plate Price and pull the Eagles within three. 

The teams traded zeros in the third, before Messiah scored two runs on an Eagle error to push their advantage to five, 7-2.

Price led off the bottom of the fourth with a single to center, McClain followed with a double down the left field line. McClain got to third as Price scored on Colton Kubicki's (York, Pa. / West York) ground out to second. Joshua Gery's (Pottstown, Pa. / Pottstown Senior High School) single to short plated Maclay. Devyn Carper (Altoona, Pa. / Altoona Area) reached safely on a bunt and Gery got to third on the throw. Carper stole second before Larry Corle (Martinsburg, Pa. / Central High School) smacked a double down the left field line to score both runners. He scored two batters later to tie the game, 7-7, on Maclay's single to right center.  

The Falcons took the lead in the fifth on a homer to right center, but JC took the lead right back as Gery two-run single to center scored McClain and Price.  

The teams traded two-run innings in the sixth as the Eagles led by the end of the bottom of the sixth, 11-10. 

The Falcons blasted another homer to right in the seventh before Kipp's sacrifice fly again put Juniata ahead as Carper scored to make it 12-11. 

Austin Suders (Marion, Pa. / Chambersburg Area) surrendered a hit to start the eighth before sitting down the next three batters. Juniata went 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the inning to send the game to final inning.

A two-out RBI double down the right field line by Messiah tied things at 12. Gavin Grimaldi (Clymer, Pa. / Penns Manor) struck out the next batter to end the inning. 

Kubicki started things off with a single up the middle and Gery reached safely on a bunt. Two batters later, Corle singled to left to load the bases and set the stage for Kipp. Kipp got hit by a pitch to send Kubicki home and get the win for Juniata. 

Juniata was 12-28 (.429) with runners on and 7-17 (.412) with runners in scoring position.  

The Eagles return to action Saturday at Elizabethtown for a doubleheader. First pitch is at 12:30.