Eagan Implodes In Baseball Playoffs

The fifth-seeded Eagan baseball team held a 2-0 lead on No. 1 seed and tournament host Burnsville on Friday night at the Alimagnet Fields Complex, yet imploded late to give up nine error-laden runs over the sixth and seventh innings to lose 11-4 and fall into an elimination game on Saturday morning.

David Stephens' first inning double scored Brady Loew and Tommy Bodecker to give the Wildcats a two-run advantage after one inning and Eagan continued to lead until the Blaze knotted the count at 2-2 in the top of the fourth inning. 

After both squads saw opportunities to take the lead go by the boards in the fourth and fifth innings, Burnsville broke open the game by taking advantage of a succession of Wildcat miscues to score five runs and seize control of the contest.

Collin Baska singled home Eagan teammate Mike Marsh to pull the Wildcats to within 7-3, but another mistake-filled frame on defense allowed the Blaze to put four more runs on the board in the top of the seventh to all-but clinch the matchup.

Wildcat batters Eric Peterson, Charlie Conkel and Loew strung together a trio of singles to notch one more tally in the seventh but Eagan could pull no closer than 11-4 before making the final out and dropped to the one-loss bracket.

The Wildcats will take on intra-district rival Eastview in a sectional elimination game at 10 a.m. Saturday morning at Alimagnet, with the winner moving on to play a second game against either St. Thomas or Burnsville immediately following and the loser concluding its season.