Eagles Take Game Three of Point Series

Waleska, GA -  Coming off last Monday's game with William Carey, you would have thought that the Eagles would keep rolling along - however, the issues that they faced on Friday in the loss to Point continued into game two of the series.

Jordan Hampton would get the start in the first game of the doubleheader with Point and usually, he is a solid pitcher that you can rely on for several innings, but in this game - Point was not done putting up the big numbers just like they did on Friday late afternoon with the Eagles. Hampton gave up a home run on the second at-bat in the first inning and Point never let off the gas pedal. On top of the heavy offense by Point, their pitcher was able to go six of the seven innings for the Skyhawks and limited the Eagles to just four hits and two runs.

Nash Crowell was able to get a home run off of the good pitching from Point - but that would be the only offense for the majority of the game. In the final innings, both coaches started swapping players and giving everyone a chance to get some time in the game. The Eagles did get a good pitching appearance from Blaine Ingram. Ingram came in to relieve Hampton and pitched three solid innings only allowing two hits, zero runs, and recording two strikeouts. 

The game would end in favor of the Skyhawks, 16-5.

In game two, Andrew Herbert was selected to start and he was able to pitch the complete game. This was his second consecutive start going the whole game for the Eagles. This is really big for Reinhardt because they need every starting pitcher to go at least 6 to 7 innings in a game before having to go to the bullpen. Herbert's numbers are not great, but he did what it took to keep the hot bats of the Skyhawks down and allowed the Eagles' offense to shine. Besides the low run production in game two of this series, the Eagles have been putting up larger run totals this season and look for this to continue because they have a strong offensive team and several are really hot at the plate right now.

One of those hot bats is Zach Rabe. Rabe was able to hit a Grand Slam in the second inning giving the Eagles a big lead to start the game.  This is Rabe's second Grand Slam this week. He previously hit the four-run homer in the William Carey game at the Southeast Rumble.

Lance Dockery and Jarrett Burney continue to keep getting hits (and bombs) in the games right now. Dockery was 1 for 2 with 2 runs scored and 2 RBIs and Burney was 1 for 3. Dockery had a solo homer in the fifth inning.

Another bright spot for the Eagles was seeing Tucker Zdunich hit is first home run this season in the sixth inning. Both Zdunich's and Dockery's home runs ended up being extremely important as the Skyhawks made a small comeback. The home runs from Zdunich and Dockery were the deciding factor for the Eagles to pick up the one win of the series. The Eagles won game three, 8 to with Herbert picking up his second win of the early season. He also leads the Eagles with 21 strikeouts.

Reinhardt will play again on Friday and Saturday at home with a series with CIU. This is conference play so it is important for the Eagles to get things going and win the series to stay at the top of the standings.