Elgin, Ill.     The Judson University Baseball Team overcame an early 5-run deficit to defeat Calumet College on Friday 10-6 in the first game of a do-or-die series with Calumet St. Joseph. The Eagles must sweep all three games to earn a spot in the CCAC tournament. 

Judson trailed 5-0 after the first four innings of play. The Eagles began their comeback in the fifth inning. Mitchell Stempowski and  Ian Gonzalez each led off the inning with a single. Max Freund moved each runner over on a sacrifice, and then Jordan Babcock knocked in Stempowski on a groundout. 

Judson would tack on two more in the seventh. Freund hit a one-out single to left field and scored immediately after on an RBI double from Babcock. Babcock scored two batters later on Timothy Ellinger's RBI single. Judson pulled within one in the top of the eighth inning. Adam Zeratsky doubled to left field with one out. After a strikeout, Stempowski had a two-out RBI single to make the score 5-4. 

With the season on the line, the Eagles mustered a six-run rally to take the lead and pull away. Judson started the inning with three straight hits from Freund, Babcock, and Giovanni Davila to load the bases. Joshua Taylor (courtesy running for Freund) scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at five. After an Alec Spang pinch-hit walk, Benjamin Nelson hit an RBI single to move everyone up 90 feet. Zeratsky had the inning's big blow with a two-run double to left field. Gonzalez hit a two-run single later in the inning for Judson's ninth and 10th runs. 

The Judson bullpen saved the day for the Eagles as they allowed only one run in 7.2 innings of work. Brandon Callender did not allow a run in six innings as he struck out six while only allowing five hits. Zach Rojas (4-4) earned the win by allowing only one run on three hits while striking out one in the game's final 1.2 innings of work. 

Judson (10-30, 7-18 CCAC) must win both ends of tomorrow's twin bill in Elgin versus Calumet beginning at 1:00 p.m.