(Posted April 24, 2008)

READING, Pa. -- Senior Dan Kauffman (Conestoga, Pa./Penn Manor) two-run double in the eighth inning lifted Juniata College to a 9-8 win over Alvernia College, in baseball action Thursday afternoon in Reading, Pa. Kauffman finished the day with five runs batted in on a 2-for-5 effort at the plate, including a three-run home run in the seventh inning that wiped out most of what had been an 8-3 Alvernia lead. The Eagles (22-9) put up three runs in the first inning, thanks to Greg Hoffman's (Phoenix, Md./Dulaney) three-run blast over the fence. Alvernia (28-10) answered with two runs in the bottom of the frame, with one run crossing on Chris Stoudt's RBI single, and James Geosits driving in Stoudt with a double. The Crusaders took the lead in the fourth inning with a six-run uprising, keyed by a two-run double by Stoudt and a two-run homer by Geosits. Adam Spadafora (Asbury, N.J./Pennington School) and Kevin Small (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) both got aboard with one-out singles in the seventh while Kauffman cleared the bases with his round-tripper, his 12th of the season. Steve Wilk (Blairsville, Pa./Blairsville) reached first later in the inning on a walk, and was plated on Shawn McDonald's (Pittsburgh, Pa./Bishop Carnevin) single to pull the Eagles to within one run of Alvernia. That set the stage for Kauffman's double with the game-winning runs, giving Juniata its first lead of the game. Eagle reliever Chad Kulik (Johnstown, Pa./Richland), who came on for starter John Love (Loysburg, Pa./Northern Bedford) in the fifth, struck out one batter in the bottom of the eighth and fanned a pair of Crusaders while retiring the side in the ninth to preserve the win. Kulik earned the win for Juniata, allowing just one hit over five innings of work, while Alvernia reliever Austin Rohrbach took the loss. Juniata returns to action on Friday, April 24, when it hosts Drew University at 3:30 p.m. on Langdon-Goodale Field in Huntingdon. -30-

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Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.