Eastern Kentucky University’s baseball team wrapped its weekend series at North Alabama with a split, dropping a 6-2 decision in Saturday’s rain-delayed late-night clash but rebounding for a gritty 3-2 victory on Sunday, per a release from EKU Athletics. The Colonels (11-41, 8-19 ASUN) showed fight against the Lions (20-29, 13-14 ASUN), setting the stage for their season-ending series.
Sunday’s Game 3 (3-2 Win): EKU snapped a 2-2 tie in the eighth when Jackson Ginther singled, advanced to third on Mauri Bejarano’s single, and scored on Colby Ott’s go-ahead single to left. North Alabama threatened in the bottom half with two on, but reliever Hayden Collins slammed the door with two flyouts. A two-out walk in the ninth put the tying run on, but Collins induced another flyball to secure the win, tossing 2.1 scoreless innings. Freshman Burkley Bounds, making his first start after 17 relief outings, delivered a gem, going 6.2 innings and allowing two runs on seven hits with five strikeouts for EKU’s third quality start of 2025. The Lions scored in the third on a double-play ball and in the fifth via Petey Craska’s solo homer, but EKU tied it in the sixth when Bejarano’s two-run shot followed Silas Shaffer’s infield single. Ott went 3-for-4 with an RBI, and Bejarano was 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Craska (2-for-4, two runs, RBI) and Bryant Loving (3-for-4) led UNA.
Saturday’s Game 2 (6-2 Loss): In a game pushed to 10:30 p.m. ET by rain, EKU knotted the score at 1-1 in the second when AJ Groeneveld doubled and scored on Ott’s single. North Alabama regained the lead in the third on Jonathan Lane’s RBI double and pulled away with single runs in the fifth and seventh, plus Ryker Billingsley’s two-run homer in the eighth. Groeneveld’s solo homer in the ninth made it 6-2, as he finished 3-for-3 with two runs and an RBI. Billingsley (3-for-4, run, two RBIs) and UNA’s Anthony Pingeton, who threw a complete game with 11 strikeouts, powered the Lions.
With the split, EKU heads into its final series of the season at Bellarmine, starting Thursday at 3 p.m. ET, looking to build on Sunday’s momentum behind standout efforts from Bounds, Ott, and Bejarano.
