Louisville, Ky. – The Transylvania baseball team came up with a sixth inning rally to defeat the Spalding University Golden Eagles in Louisville on Wednesday night. After falling behind with a dry start on offense, Transylvania remained resilient and broke through with several clutch hits, earning a tight 4-3 win.
It was Spalding who took the early lead, after a fielding error plated them an unearned run. Outside of two walks in the second inning, the Pioneers were unable to get much going offensively. Jacob Moberly threw 5.0 strong innings with just one earned run surrendered, but with five innings down in the night Transylvania had still yet to get a hit.
In the top of the sixth Zion Echols provided the spark the team needed, as he singled right up the middle and quickly stole second. Calvin Schubert then singled, and in a matter of just two at-bats, the Pioneers had gone from being no-hit to having runners on the corners with the tying run at the plate.
Griffin Hall plated Echols with a sacrifice fly, and Trent Youngblood came through with another single, once again putting runners at first and third. It was then Walter Munday who hit a single, this time scoring not only Schubert from third, but after a fielding error Youngblood showcased his speed and came across to tie the game at 3-3. With Munday on second, Matt Broadwater got another base hit to send him home, giving Transy the lead.
The Pioneers knocked on the door again in the top of the eighth with a leadoff walk as well as a double from TJ Keck, but were held off the board, setting the stage for a tense ending. Evan Burnett and Youngblood gave the team a huge 4.0 total innings of relief, with just one hit combined between the two, as they carved through the late innings.
Youngblood took the mound for the ninth and slammed the door there, as Transylvania picked up a 4-3 win.
The Pioneers conclude their regular season on Saturday, May 7th, with a doubleheader at Anderson with a 12 & 3 PM scheduled start.
For more information on Transylvania baseball, follow @TransyBaseball on Twitter.
