Eagles 16, Challengers 15

The Challengers NLB team scored in each of the first seven innings at least once and scored 15 runs but still lost in the bottom of the ninth 16-15 to the Reussbühl Eagles.

Both teams combined for 24 runs in the first three innings as the Eagles took a 15-9 lead into fourth. Starter Oliver Labhart lasted 2 innings, giving up eight earned runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out three.

Stefan Eisenring>

Youngster Stefan Eisenring had a game-high 4 hits and now has a team-leading .556 batting average.

Harry Bregy relieved him to start the third frame but was roughed up for seven runs - all of them earned - in that inning. He pitched to the first two batters in the fourth but after they got on with a base-on-balls and a single, respectively, Benny Räber, who already has some experience in the NLA, came on to relieve.

He struck out the first two batters he faced, then walked the third to load the bases, but eventually struck out the next batter to get out of the jam.

He faced one more critical situation as he loaded the bases again in the fifth inning with nobody out. But he again escaped by striking out the next three batters.

He had just one strikeout the next two innings, but his defense never let him down as the NLB-team played its first errorless game in nearly a year.

The Challengers tied the game up in the top of the seventh inning by scoring three times on back-to-back doubles by Räber and Nick Lehmann, Urs Blickenstorfer's RBI-single and an error by first baseman Müller.

Lehmann then came on in the bottom of the ninth with the game still tied at 15-15. He pitched three innings this year, allowing no runners to score and striking out five. He started well by retiring the first two batters but then walked Steiner who promptly stole second base. Catcher D'Angelo followed with a lazy single up the middle that scored Steiner all the way around from second to give the Eagles a hard-earned but well-deserved win.

The Challengers are now 2-2, 1 game behind the front-running Devils, whom they face on Mother's Day next Sunday.