North Jersey was swept in both games of Saturday’s doubleheader against South Jersey, losing 7-4 and 7-3 in Game 1 and Game 2, respectively.

Playing its first doubleheader of the 2015 season at Overpeck Park, the Eagles fell behind early in both contests but rallied back to bring the tying run to the plate in the bottom of both final frames.

The Giants split their scoring between two innings in Game 1, plating its first two runs in the 1st inning and recording five additional tallies in the 2nd.

After reliever Chris Baldi entered to shut down the Giants’ 2nd-inning rally, the Eagles’ bats were finally able to get to work.

With runners on the corners and one out in the 3rd inning, Andrew Murnane recorded his first extra-base hit of the season by blasting a 2-RBI triple into deep right-center field.

The Eagles put up another 2-spot in the 5th inning. Following a single by Murnane and a long double by Ryan Rivera, John Kukura drove in both with a screaming double down the left field line.

Having fought back to shrink the deficit to 7-4, the Eagles nearly completed the comeback in Game 1.

Murnane walked, stole second, and moved to third on a base hit by Kukura. After Kukura stole second, the Eagles had two men in scoring position and only one out with the tying run at the plate.

North Jersey was unable to follow through in that last frame, though, as Paul Rufo struck out and Jason Uliano grounded out to second to end the first game.

For both squads, the second game of the afternoon was nearly a mirror image of the first.

The Giants followed up their 5-run 2nd inning in Game 1 by scoring 7 runs in the 2nd inning of Game 2.

In that half-inning, South Jersey brought 12 batters to the plate, the first eight of whom all reached base safely.

Faced once again with a 7-run deficit after two frames, North Jersey’s hitters put their best effort into a comeback.

Hitting in a 2-on, 2-out scenario in the 4th stanza, Paul Rufo blooped a single into right field to bring home Shane Woelfel, who had led off the inning with a walk.

The Eagles pushed across its second run in the 6th inning off another remarkable effort by Andrew Murnane.

The UPenn sophomore reached first after a Giants error and moved to second after swiping his team-leading 5th bag of the season. Chris Baldi then followed up his 3.2 innings of effective relief work in Game 1 by sending an opposite-field single into right to score Murnane.

With the South Jersey lead shrunk to 7-2 before the 7th inning, the Eagles pressed remarkably to attempt a comeback in the bottom of 7th.

North Jersey loaded the bases with no outs in the final half-inning on the back of base-hits by Rufo and Rivera and a walk by Kenny Hayden.

From there, after a Jason Uliano strikeout, Nico Symington walked to score Rufo and bring the tying run to the plate once again.

However, Shane Woelfel flew out to the shortstop, and Andrew Murnane struck out to end the second game.

While the Eagles’ starters both struggled on the afternoon, their relief pitchers were nearly flawless.

Chris Baldi and Brandon Issa surrendered only three hits in 5.2 innings of relief in Game 1, and Nick Masterson and Jordan Fontenelle combined to pitch 3 scoreless innings in Game 2.

From the plate, several Eagles hitters also produced outstanding performances.

Leading the charge was Andrew Murnane, who started both games in right field and finished 3-7 with a triple, two runs scored, two RBIs, and two stolen bases. Caldwell College junior Ryan Rivera added to his team-leading batting average, ending the afternoon hitting 3-5 with a double, a run, and a stolen base. Pace University senior John Kukura continued his hot streak on Saturday, going 3-7 with a double, two RBIs, and a stolen base.

Following Monday’s rainout of a road game against Trenton, North Jersey will return home on Tuesday, June 16 to take on the Jersey Pilots at Overpeck Park. First pitch will be at 7:00pm, and the pregame show with Eagles broadcasters Drew Casey and Dominick Savino will begin at 6:45pm on http://mixlr.com/northjerseyeagles/.

By Dominick Savino