Senior outfielder Brendan Swayne (Seaford, NY/Plainedge) and The College at Brockport Baseball team nearly fought their way back from a seven run deficit Tuesday evening in a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) game against Fredonia that was originally scheduled to be on the road but was relocated to Brockport due to field issues in Fredonia. The Golden Eagles fell 7-6 scoring five runs in the eighth and ninth innings to put the Brockport fans on the edge of their seats.

Brockport (11-9, 4-6 SUNYAC) managed only a single hit heading into the sixth inning before an Anthony Barbetto (New City, NY/Clarkstown North) walk with two outs. Swayne ripped a line drive down the left field line during a hit and run play that knocked in Barbetto for the Golden Eagles first run of the game.

Two innings later, the Golden Eagles started the eighth with a single from Brett Sanders (Rochester, NY/Greece Olympia). The Green and Gold were forced to rally with two outs yet again as the next two batters fouled out and struck out before Chris Davis ( Syracuse, NY/Bishop Ludden) singled to right field advancing Sanders to third. Wesley Burghardt (Chittenango, NY/Chittenango) followed the hit with a hard groundball that the shortstop could not handle and reached base on an error allowing Sanders to score.

Senior John Craig (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) had entered the game off the Golden Eagle bench in the top of the seventh as a defensive replacement but came up big in the eighth with his bat. Craig drove a ball deep down the right field line for a double that scored both runners in the process, closing the gap to 7-4.

Brockport pitcher Kevin Harman (Penfield, NY/Penfield) shut down the Blue Devils for the second consecutive inning utilizing an inning ending double play in the bottom of the eighth.

In the top of the ninth inning Luke Gilbert (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) worked a walk before pinch hitter Eli Carrera (Rochester, NY/Franklin) looped a ball into right field for a single. Sander's grounded into a fielder's choice at third base prior to a passed ball that sent Golden Eagle runners to second and third.

Yet again Swayne proved to have the clutch bat with two outs as he roped a ball on a line through the left side of the infield bringing the Golden Eagles within a single run.

The Blue Devils quickly made a pitching change as the game began to swing in Brockport's favor. Against the new hard throwing right hander, Davis sent a ball flying into the right center gap but with just a little too much air time as the right fielder strolled underneath the ball to make the running grab for the final out of the game.

Brockport continues SUNYAC play with three games scheduled this weekend against Plattsburgh. The games currently are scheduled as a 12 and 2 pm doubleheader on Saturday and a 12 pm contest on Sunday, but be sure to stay tuned as the weather has created nightmarish conditions for scheduling purposes. Stay up to date on scheduling by checking into the Brockport Athletics website at www.GoBrockport.com and stay up to date on all your Golden Eagle scores and awards by following Ellsworth on twitter @EllsworthEagle.