MIDWAY, Ky. - Down six runs entering the ninth inning, the Midway baseball team made things very interesting in a Wednesday afternoon tilt against Pikeville.

The Eagles brought DJ Morain to the plate as the tying run in the ninth, and the designated hitter made great contact, but his shot unfortunately landed in the glove of the centerfielder at the warning track, as the Bears escaped with a 14-12 win.

After Midway struck first on an RBI single by Shane Taylor in the first inning, Pikeville, which entered the day 8-1, took a lead it would never surrender on a three-run Tyler Maynard home run in the top of the third, the first of four home runs the Bears hit.

The lead reached 10-3 before Eagle bats mounted a comeback with a five-run seventh inning. The scoring began with a two-run Morain single and concluded with a Nick Eastham RBI double.

The Bears gave themselves breathing room with a four-run eighth, with Austin Gurney delivering the biggest shot of his four-hit, five-RBI game with a monster home run to left field, making it 14-8.

But the Eagles would put the pressure on immediately, with Jonathan Watson and Preston Howard opening the inning with back-to-back singles. Following a fly out, Eastham singled to load the bases for Josh Halterman.

Having already driven in two runs with a fifth-inning home run, Halterman cleared the bases on one swing with a double. Following another out, Taylor doubled home Halterman, then reached third on a balk.

Morain initially looked like he may have tied the game, but he just missed on a shot to the deepest part of the park, as Bear centerfielder Tyler Freas was able to track down the fly ball just in front of the fence.

Halterman, Eastham and Taylor all had three hits for Midway, which had a season-high 15 hits on the day. The Eagles had opportunities to bring home more runs, though, finishing with 12 men left on base compared to Pikeville's six.

The Eagles drop to 5-7 on the season. They will complete a nine-game homestand with four games over three days against Siena Heights (Mich.) this weekend, starting with a 2 p.m. matchup Friday.

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