The Westminster College Blue Jays almost handed the Spalding (Kentucky) University Golden Eagles their first St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference loss in the opener of Saturday's doubleheader.
Spalding, though, rallied from a 5-3 deficit to clip Westminster 7-5 at Saucier Field. The loss was the third in a row for the Blue Jays, who fell to 12-10 overall and 7-4 in the SLIAC.
Results from the second game of the doubleheader were not available at press time.
Westminster raced out to a 2-0 advantage in the bottom of the first inning in Saturday's opener. Senior center fielder Nick Bohlmann hit a leadoff home run to right and sophomore catcher Branden Beeler provided an RBI single to center.
The Blue Jays' lead would not last long as the Golden Eagles (22-4, 9-0) retaliated with three runs in the top of the second to go on top.
Westminster battled back in front with three runs in the third. Freshman first baseman Ryan Clavin's RBI double to right tied the game at 3-all and senior designated hitter Mason Price bolted home on a wild pitch to give the Blue Jays the edge.
Senior shortstop Adam Mundle followed with an RBI sacrifice fly to put Westminster in front 5-3.
Spalding responded with another three-run outburst in the fourth to take a one-run lead and added its final run in the seventh.
Bohlmann was 1-for-3 and Clavin and Beeler were both 1-for-2 as the Blue Jays were limited to three hits.
Freshman starter Skyler Dickneite threw a complete game in suffering his first loss of the season for Westminster. Dickneite (1-1) surrendered seven runs - five earned - on nine hits, struck out three and walked two.