Baseball Falls Short at Cumberland (Tenn.)

By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media

Photo Courtesy of Cumberland (Tenn.) Sports Information 

LEBANON, Tenn. – Poor pitching doomed the 17^th-ranked Eagles and they couldn't recover after a pair of runners were left stranded in the ninth in a 9-8 loss to the Phoenix of Cumberland (Tenn.) Tuesday evening.

Reinhardt has now dropped three-consecutive games to fall to 28-13.

"Losing is not fun," head coach Jonathan Burton said. "We are in a rut and we need to come out quickly. This is the wrong time for us to be dropping games. This last weekend we really pitched well and didn't hit; then today, it was the opposite… We need to play complimentary baseball.

"We really need to get things going tomorrow at Martin Methodist and carry that momentum into an important conference weekend."

The hometown team took the lead early in emphatic fashion as a walk turned into a 2-run blast in the top of the first inning from Gianmarco Marcelletti. Each squad would be silenced in the batter's box the next couple of frames until the hosts erupted for a half-dozen on a solo homer, bases-loaded hit-by-pitch, a 3-run triple and a sacrifice bunt.

Now down, 6-2, the Eagles had to chip away at their deficit – which they started to do in the sixth – with a trio of tallies. Xavier Arnette got an RBI on a fielder's choice, and then he was followed up by run-scoring hits from Devin Symlar (RBI-single) and Keven Jimenez (SAC fly).

Cumberland, however, got a run back in the bottom of the sixth with a SAC fly of its own.

The game got tied at 7-7 in the seventh after another SAC fly, this one from Dalton Turnbow, preceded an Andres Ugarte RBI-double down the line to knot things up. Again, though, the Phoenix would respond with more runs compliments of a 2-run shot for a 9-7 advantage with two innings to play.

Jarrett Burney got his bunch within one at 9-8 following a homer in the top of the eighth, but Reinhardt couldn't keep the momentum going to get the game into extras.

The visitors gathered 11 hits on the evening and were led offensively by four individuals with a couple knocks each.

Four players hit the mound for the Eagles in defeat, as Kevin Ross got the loss after just 0.2 innings in relief.

The club is back on the diamond tomorrow afternoon on the road at Martin Methodist (Tenn.).

First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.

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