LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Spalding University baseball team defeated Transylvania University in a seven inning shortened contest, 11-10. With the win, the Golden Eagles improve to 5-2 on the season. The loss sees the Pioneers drop to a 4-4 overall record.
 
Javier Guerra (1-0) earned his first win going five innings and giving up two runs on eight hits. Daniel Seitzinger (0-1) was hit for the loss. Chance Brinley earned his second save of the season.
 
Kam Bruner continued his hot start to the 2016 season going 3-for-4, including a triple, with three RBI's and two runs. Blake Patterson also got on base three times, going 3-for-4 with two RBI's and two runs. Transylvania was led by Rex Roges, who went 3-for-5 with two RBI's.
 
Spalding got the scoring started in the top of the first when Korie Vire singled in Nic Chafin. After stealing second base, Vire was brought in with a single from Bruner and Spalding led 2-0 going into the bottom of the first. Transylvania would get a run back when Guerra would walk Trey Simpson with the bases loaded, cutting the lead to 2-1 after two innings. The top of the third would see Spalding add two more runs. Dillon Sievert would hit a sacrifice fly to bring Bruner in from third. Casey Gibson would single through the right side to score Patterson with the very next at-bat. In the bottom of the third, Connor Blevins hit a double to left center, scoring his man all the way from first, cutting the lead down to 4-2. Spalding would answer in a big way putting three runs on the board in the top of the fourth. A grounder toward second base would score Chafin from third. Patterson would hit a double, bringing in Vire, and Matt Harper singled in Patterson to extend the lead to 7-2. In the top of the fifth, Chafin would hit a sac fly to left field to gain a commanding 8-2 lead. The Golden Eagles would look to push the game out of reach in the sixth when a Bruner triple brought Vire in from second. Patterson would then single, letting Bruner cross the plate for a commanding 10-2 lead. The Pioneers would not go away quietly, as they put four runs up in the bottom half. The scoring was highlighted by a Hunter Jones double and Transylvania trailed 10-6. The Golden Eagles would get a run back in the seventh as a Vire single scored Chafin from second base. In the bottom of the seventh, the rally would continue as the Pioneers put for more runs on the Golden Eagles cutting the lead to just one run, 11-10. Kody Ross struck out looking to end the inning and due to darkness the game would be called short, ending the valiant rally from Transylvania.
 
Spalding will take the field once again this Friday, March 11^th when they travel to San Antonio, Tex. to take on DeSales University. The first pitch is scheduled for 12 pm EST.