RALEIGH, N.C. - It was a beautiful day for baseball, just 24 hours before the entire country will be potentially covered in snow. The Pacers, coming off an 0-2 weekend, looked to right the ship against Saint Andrews University in the midweek. Peace looked to freshman Alejandro Posluszny to make his first career start early on in the year.
The Pacers drew first blood on the scoreboard, taking advantage of an errant throw in the bottom of the first that allowed Dalton Frasier to cross the plate. Saint Andrews quickly responded with an RBI single to tie the game in the second. The Knights then loaded the bases, giving Posluszny his first really tense situation. The freshman pitcher showed rapid maturity, stranding all three base runners and getting out of the inning.
Senior second baseman Adam Joseph was the story of the Pacer offense for the game, accounting for 2 of the 3 Pacer runs. Joseph provided an RBI single in the 2nd, and a SAC fly in the 8th to tie the game at 3.
As the sun set and the temperature dropped, the tension in the ballpark rose as neither team could manufacture a run in the 9th inning, sending the game into extra innings. An untimely error, a walk, and a bloop single into right field gave the knights their second lead of the game, which they never surrendered.
The Knights made quick work of the Pacers in the bottom of the 10th, handing Peace their 3rd loss of the year. When asked about where to go next this season, Head Coach Charlie Long remained optimistic that there are enough positives to take from Tuesday's game to turn things around. "I'm encouraged that we've been pitching better and playing good defense," said Long. "I think we're gonna be just fine, we're going to hang in there and continue to move forward."
The Pacers will sit on the aspects of their performances that they wish to improve one through the incoming snow day. SUNY Brockport awaits for a double header on Saturday, the Pacers will look to get into the win column on what looks to be another cold February afternoon.
