Challengers outlast Eagles 9-4

Eidrys Reyes' two run single with two outs in the seventh inning broke a 3-3 tie, leading the Zurich Challengers to a 9-4 win over the Lucerne Eagles in Game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader.

Reyes finished with a game-high three RBIs, as did Saentis Zeller who drove in the Challengers' first three runs on a solo homer in the third and a two-run single in the fifth inning.

Robert Sedin went 3-for-4 out of the leadoff spot and scored three runs, and Ryan Byrne added two singles, a walk and a hit-by-pitch in five trips to the plate.

He also picked up his league-leading sixth win of the season by pitching four innings in relief of starter Tobias Siegrist.

The Eagles scored first on Samy Paulino's solo homer in the third inning, the first homer the Challengers gave up all season.

But Zeller tied it with a solo shot of his own before the Eagles scored two more in the top of the fifth. Eddi Hernandez' two-run single plated both Patrick Maier and Henry Delgado who have reached on a single and a throwing error by first baseman Lowuin Sacramento, respectively.

But the Challengers erased both runs in the bottom half of the inning on Zeller's two-run single.

After taking the lead in the seventh, the Challengers added four more runs off struggling Andrea Girasole. The Eagles chose to walk Zeller intentionally to load the bases, but it backfired as the Challengers followed with back-to-back-to-back RBI-singles by Reyes, Byrne and James Sanders to put the game out of reach.

Game notes
The home run was Zeller's first since June 26, 2011. It was the 32nd homer of his career, tying him with Roger Brunner and Armin Blickenstorfer">Armin Blickenstorfer for seventh all-time. His single in the first inning was his 400th hit of his NLA career.