WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – The Golden Eagles saw comebacks come just short twice as they fell 6-4 in game one and 13-12 in game two in a pair of eight inning contests. Cornerstone made outstanding comebacks in each game, highlighted by an eight run seventh inning in game two that saw a Jake Collins grand slam for his third bomb of the day. The losses drop CU to 4-10 on the year as they have a day off tomorrow before taking on Judson on Thursday at Northeast Region Park starting at 10 a.m. 
 
Game One – Dordt – 6 Cornerstone – 4

• The Golden Eagles tinkered with their lineup in game one seeing Evan Shirley lead-off, Drew Goodman play first, and Andrew Meny behind the plate, looking to generate some offense. 
• Both pitchers would start the day strong as Ryan McArthur would allow just one base runner through two innings in a 0-0 game. 
• In the third, an error prolonged the inning as Dordt finally got to starter Ryan McArthur. After the bases were loaded, Dylan Stanley hit a two RBI double to left field to go on top 2-0. 
• Defender's saw an error and starter Nick Yeager lose a little of his command in the bottom of the third as CU put runners on first and second with just one out. Jake Collins took advantage with an RBI single through the left side to make it 2-1 after three innings of play. 
• Dordt got the run right back in the top of the fourth using a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly to score and make it 3-1. 
• In the bottom of the fourth, Andrew Meny led things off with a single. The pinch runner Jack Gagliardi would be picked off though on a great move from Dordt to eliminate the threat and keep the score 3-1. 
• Cornerstone brought out some outstanding defensive awareness in the top of the fifth to help Ryan McArthur. Evan Shirley made a great play to get a runner at first, and Drew Goodman gunned a runner at third trying to take an extra base to get a quick two outs. 
• Ben Barnes came in to pitch the final out of the fifth and before he could get it, Juan Sanchez would record an RBI single to increase the Dordt lead to 4-1. 
• In the bottom of the sixth, Jake Collins hit a solo home run for his first of the season to cut the deficit to 4-2. After getting one more out, the Dordt starter would exit, and Chaz Gothard would come in looking for a save. 
• Andrew Meny kept the momentum going in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI double that scored Matthew Kindley to bring CU back within one run. Dordt would again go to the bullpen as Charlie Hennessy entered looking to keep Dordt in the lead. 
• Lucas Vega kept the train moving in the sixth with an RBI single that scored Jack Gagliardi the pinch runner from third, tying the game at four. CU would finally go down after that as the game sat tied 4-4 going into the final inning. 
• Ben Barnes stayed on the mound in the top of the seventh and kept Dordt off the board to keep the game tied. 
• After a pair of walks in the bottom of the seventh, Cornerstone would get runners on the corners. Dordt got the strikeout needed to force extra innings though tied at four. 
• What looked like an easy 1-2-3 inning in the top of the eighth resulted in a safe call on a two out infield single. The very next pitch would be a double to the gap that would score the run to take the lead. Another run would score moments later as Dordt went on top 6-4. 
• Cornerstone had no answer in the bottom of the eighth, falling 6-4 in extra innings. 

 
Game Two – Dordt – 13 Cornerstone – 12

• Dordt got off to a great offensive start in game two getting hits on each of the first three batters including a three-run home run from Jason Carrig. 
• A ground ball double-play with the bases loaded would get Brendan Miller out of the first inning with a 3-0 Golden Eagle deficit. 
• Dordt continued to find the holes in the Golden Eagle defense adding another run in the second on an RBI single. Brendan Miller would exit the game and Ben Cunningham would enter as the first arm out of the bullpen. 
• The Defenders would score a total of five runs in the second inning to see their lead explode to 8-0. 
• Cornerstone found a run in the top of the third as Grant Young gave CU their first hit on a ground ball up the middle that scored Lucas Vega who walked earlier in the inning. 
• The single sparked the Golden Eagle offense as Jake Collins hit his second HR of the day with a two-run shot to left field to make it 8-3. 
• Both offenses started to slow down as the score remained 8-3 through four innings of play. Ben Cunningham found a rhythm on the mound for CU and earned a 1-2-3 inning in the fourth. 
• Cornerstone found their offense again in the fifth with back-to-back doubles from Lucas Vegan and Jordan Wenzel to chip a little closer and make the score 8-4 in favor of Dordt.
• Dordt responded with a run in the bottom of the fifth on a new pitcher in Drew Goodman. The first batter to face him took him deep and made the Defender lead 9-4. 
• CU started to generate some offense again in the seventh loading the bases with no outs. Reliever Mason Price could not work around it as Jake Collins hit his third home run of the day with a grand slam to right field that brought CU within one, 9-8. 
• The comeback continued as JC Salinas hit the crucial two RBI double that would give Cornerstone the 10-9 lead in the top of the seventh. 
• Lucas Vega recorded a two RBI single to add to the now Golden Eagle lead at 12-9. CU would score a total of eight runs in the inning to hold a 12-9 lead going into the bottom of the inning. 
• Caden Ritsema came in to pitch looking for the save. After giving up a HR, he was able to get out two outs but not the final out as Dordt again would tie the game at 12 in the wild back and forth game. Ritsema responded to get the ever elusive final out with a runner on third to force extra innings for the second consecutive game. 
• Cornerstone could not score in the top of the eighth as it stayed tied 12-12.
• In the bottom of the inning, Dordt got to new pitcher Alex Hayward hitting their fifth HR of the second game to win 13-12.

 
By the Numbers:
3/8 – Jake Collins got hot and hit his first three home runs of the year with a grand slam to highlight action in game two as he totaled eight RBI.
19 – Dordt recorded 19 hits in the second game of the day.
0-3 – Cornerstone is 0-3 in extra-inning games so far this year. 
 
What's Next?
Cornerstone has a day off tomorrow before closing the two-week trip with a Thursday double-header against Judson and a Friday DH with Hastings back at Northeast Region Park.  

Baseball Contact: Jesse Campbell 
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