FLORENCE, Ala. (May 11, 2025) – The University of North Alabama baseball team fell to Eastern Kentucky, 3-2 on Sunday afternoon. UNA clinched the series after their second win on Saturday night.
The Lions (20-29, 13-14 ASUN) were led offensively by
Petey Craska and
Bryant Loving. Craska hit 2-for-4 while scoring both runs for the Lions. Loving went 3-for-4 in the box.
The Colonels (11-41, 8-19 ASUN) had 11 hits for the afternoon. Mauri Bejarano hit .500 with a two-run home run shot which would eventually be the push to help EKU win.
Jayden Sloan,
Matthew Delgado and
Ryker Billingsley also had a hit, totaling eight for the Lions.
The Lions used three pitchers with
Dylan Morrill earning his second start of the season in back-to-back weekends. He went six innings with a strikeout.
Gavin Oswald pitched 1.1 innings and saw nine batters.
Justin Battle finished out the final 1.2 innings.
After a late night on Saturday, the game started slow.
The first to strike were the Lions in the bottom of the third. Craska doubled to left field before a Delgado singled moved him to third.
Nash Rippen grounded into a double play at first but Craska scored before they applied the tag to Delgado in the run down for the 1-0 lead.
Craska added his second hit by bombing one over right field for his third home run of the season to go up 2-0.
EKU singled in the top of the sixth. As the Lions got their second out, Morrill was in a full count battle with Bejarano. After nine pitches, the Colonel homered to right field to square things away 2-2.
In the bottom of the seventh Craska and Delgado walked while Rippen was hit by a pitch. The final batter could not get a ball down to score a run to hold the tie.
Three straight singles in the top of the eighth scored one for EKU as they took the 3-2 lead. The Lions could not find a run in the final two innings.
North Alabama celebrated 11 seniors after the game was over which include,
Jayden Sloan,
Carson Howard,
Jonathan Lane,
Quinn Petty,
Dylan Morrill,
Kyle Lewis,
Brycen Parrish,
Anthony Pingeton,
Zak Majer,
Raleigh Claunch and
Caleb Menina.
Pitchers of Record
W – Hayden Collins (2-1)
L –
Gavin Oswald (1-2)
S – N/A
COMING UP NEXT
North Alabama travels to Starkville, Miss. for a battle with its final SEC team this season with the Mississippi State Bulldogs at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 13.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
