HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Drew University baseball team battled Juniata to a pair of one-run games, but the Eagles earned a pair of walk-off victories on the opening day of a Landmark Conference series on Friday.
 
Juniata won 9-8 on a game-ending two-run homer in the 10th inning in the opener before capturing a 13-12 victory on a walk-off single in a back-and-forth affair in the second game, in which the Rangers had twice rallied from four runs down.
 
Junior Nate Miller and sophomore John Furch turned in a pair of big performances for Drew at the plate. Miller finished 6-for-10 with four runs, four RBIs and a home run while Furch went 7-for-9 with four RBIs and three runs.
 
The Rangers led 7-1 after six innings of play in the first game before Juniata put up a late rally. Senior Billy Coleman blasted a two-run homer – his second long ball of the season – to make it 6-1 in the sixth inning.
 
The Eagles scored three runs in the seventh, two in the eighth, and one in the ninth to make it 7-7. In the top of the 10th, Miller led off with a solo homer – his fourth of the season and second in as many days – but in the bottom half, Corey Daniels singled before Michaeal Warren ended it with his two-run shot.
 
Furch led a 13-hit attack for Drew, going 3-for-4 two runs and two RBIs while Miller, Coleman, junior Anthony Diaz, and junior Justin Cece collected two hits apiece.
 
Sophomore Raiden Yost started on the mound for the Rangers and worked 6 2/3 innings, holding Juniata to four runs. Sophomore Dominic Goodenough threw 1 1/3 innings before classmate Alex Barbarisi tossed the final inning for the Rangers.
 
In a topsy-turvy nightcap, the Rangers scored the first two runs before Juniata went up 6-2 with a six-run third. The Eagles added another run in the fifth to go up 7-2 before Drew mounted a rally, scoring once in the sixth and four times in the seventh to draw even at 7-7.
 
Juniata answered with four runs in the bottom of the seventh, capped by Warren's second homer of the day, this one a two-run shot.
 
Drew refused to go away, however, and scored twice in the eighth before going in front 12-11 with a three-run ninth. Freshman Thomas Zammitti doubled in a run before Miller drilled a two-run single to put the Rangers on top.
 
The Eagles came back in the bottom of the inning, however, scoring twice on three hits, including a game-ending single from Joey Allegrini.
 
Miller and Furch each went 4-for-5 with a double for Drew while Zammitti and sophomore Will Fritch each ripped a pair of hits.
 
Senior Nick Pellegrino started and pitched two innings for Drew before freshman Kyle Johnson hurled five frames. Freshman Luke Tambasco pitched the final 1 2/3.
 
The same two teams conclude the series on Saturday with a single game starting at 11 a.m.