Eagles Comeback Win Advances Them In CCAC
Joliet, IL - Day two of the CCAC Tournament saw the Eagles once again have the first game of the day. In this one, Judson met the #1 seed St. Ambrose Fighting Bees in the winner's bracket.
In what was a dazzeling game, Judson got on the board first with an RBI single by Ryan Pitzer in the second inning to make it 1-0.
That score would remain until the bottom of the sixth inning when St. Ambrose hit a two-run home run to make it 2-1.
On the mound, Alijah Acevedo was outstanding pitching a complete game with three strikeouts. He allowed just four hits, but the one big hit gave the Bees a lead that they would not let up.
The Eagles out-hit St. Ambrose six to four with Acevedo having two hits, the only player with multiple hits in the game.
However, Judson was unable to mount a rally and fell 2-1, giving them one loss, and falling to the loser's bracket.
In what would be their second game of the day on Thursday, Judson met Indiana South Bend in a loser's bracket game for the right to stay alive in the tournament.
South Bend would score first, and lead 3-0 after just two innings.
But that would be all the scoring that South Bend could muster thanks to the efforts of Jacob Skinner on the mound. In relief, Skinner was solid pitching 7.1 innings pitched, and not allowing a run. He allowed just two hits with four strikeouts to limit South Bend for the rest of the night.
The great effort on the mound by Skinner allowed the Eagles to stay in it, and have a chance at a comeback.
And comeback they did. It started with a Pitzer sacrifice fly in the seventh inning to get on the board.
In the ninth inning, Matt Armstrong hit an RBI double to make the game 3-2. While hitting into double plays are generally a bad thing, a Carson Hubert double play was enough to get Armstrong to score and tie the game at three.
Judson would force extra innings, where they would score first in the top of the 10th inning. That run was plated by an Armstrong bases loaded walk to bring in Blake Stempowski.
Over the last two innings, the Eagles flooded the bases and was able to get the runs in that they needed to earn the comeback victory 4-3 in ten innings.
The win keeps the Eagles alive in the tournament, and move onto Friday. On Friday, they will await the winner of the St. Francis vs Olivet game as Judson tries to make their way through the loser's bracket for a chance at the conference championship.
