BLACKSBURG, Va. – The Purple Eagles baseball team fell to Virginia Tech, 8-3, on Tuesday.
With bases loaded in the top of the third, Peter Battaglia singled to right center, scoring Tanner Kirwer and Julian Gallup to give the Purple Eagles an early 2-0 lead over Virginia Tech. The Hokies halved Niagara’s lead, 2-1, with a score in the bottom of the fourth, and wrested the lead from the Purple Eagles in the bottom of the fifth, scoring four times to get ahead of Niagara, 5-2. Philippe Langlois scored for Niagara on a passed ball in the top of the seventh, but the Hokies kept the Purple Eagles scoreless for the remainder of the game and earned the victory.
Kirwer, Gallup and Langlois led Niagara with one run each and Battaglia had a team-high two RBIs.
Langlois had one double and Battaglia had one stolen base. Nate Mascellino struck out two batters in 3.0 innings pitched, but Austin Miller (0-1), who allowed four earned runs in 1.0 innings pitched, took the loss for the Purple Eagles.
The Purple Eagles play a three-game series at Marshall starting Friday, then head to Ohio for a three-game series with Bowling Green next weekend.
