GILBERT, Ariz. – The Eastern Oregon baseball team closed out its season-opening weekend with an 8–4 comeback victory over Park University–Gilbert on Sunday, rallying from an early deficit to earn a 2–2 split in the four-game series.
The Mountaineers struck first in the top of the first inning when
Andrew Demianew drove in
Lucas Smith with a base hit. Eastern held the 1–0 advantage into the second before Park-Gilbert answered in the bottom half of the inning and then took control in the third, scoring three runs to move in front, 4–1.
Eastern responded in the fourth inning as
Jason DeBone and Demianew each drove in a run to cut the deficit to one. The Mounties then seized momentum in the fifth and sixth innings. A Pirate error allowed two runs to score on DeBone's RBI opportunity, giving Eastern the lead.
Easton Espinoza then delivered an RBI single and
Lucas Perez added a sacrifice fly to push the advantage to 7–4.
Park-Gilbert threatened in the sixth, loading the bases with two outs, but
Tucker Zander entered in relief and struck out the final batter to end the inning. The Mountie bullpen was dominant the rest of the way, allowing just four hits and no runs over the final four innings.
DeBone put an exclamation point on the win in the ninth inning, blasting a solo home run to cap the scoring and secure the 8–4 victory.
Tyler Rebsom (1–0) earned the win with 2.0 innings of relief, while Isaiah Csader (0–2) took the loss after working 0.2 innings.
Eastern Oregon continues its early-season road slate next weekend, traveling to McMinnville for a three-game series against Linfield University beginning Friday, February 13, at 4:00 p.m.
