Eagles rally for 4-3 win in final inning

The Lucerne Eagles put a damper on the Challengers' playoff hopes by defeating them 4-3 in Game 2 of Saturday's doubleheader.

Trailing 3-1 going into the seventh and final inning, the Eagles manufactured three runs off Brian Hipps to salvage a 2-2 split of their season series.

Eagles' playing coach Juan Rosario hit three singles with a stolen base, and Marco Limacher went 2-for-3 with an RBI to lead all batters.

The Eagles scored first as catcher Jay Casimiro let a pitch slip by, enabling Tom Enz to score from third base.

The Challengers came back with two runs on Thomas Blank's sac fly and Thomas Landis' RBI-single.

After that, Hipps (1-1) cruised through the next four innings, allowing just two singles to Rosario and a single to Stefan Haltmeier. He was also aided by two very close inning-ending double-plays, both started by designated hitter Rudi Vargas.

The Challengers extended their lead to 3-1 in the sixth inning on Tom Huston's soft bloop RBI-single over the infield.

Hipps started the seventh inning by giving up back-to-back walks, setting the table for Marco Limacher, who used the opportunity and hit an opposite-field game-tying two-run double.

Hipps managed to retire the next two batters on a sac bunt and a strikeout, but Ramon Garcia - hitless all day until that point - ripped an RBI-single up the middle for a 4-3 lead.

The Challengers had all the chances to come back in the bottom half of the inning, but played themselves out of it by bad baserunning.

Landis led off with a walk and quickly moved up to second with his team-leading 13th stolen base. Carlos Peña advanced him to third with a 1-3 sac bunt, but Landis rounded third base, trying to beat the throw to the plate from first baseman Oli Holenstein. He came up two steps short, bringing the Challengers to their final out.

To make matters worse, Tobias Siegrist and Yonimiler prolonged the inning with back-to-back singles which would have tied the game. Hot-hitting Hipps then popped out to the pitcher to end the game, dropping the Challengers's record to 13-8

The Challengers remain in third place with just a half game ahead of the Bern Cardinals and one game ahead of the Zurich Barracudas. Their remaining schedule pits them twice against the Sissach Frogs, to whom they already lost twice this season, the second night game against the Barracudas on August 18, and the last four games of the regular season will be against the Therwil Flyers who sit atop the standings with a 19-1 record.