WEST POINT, N.Y. (Interstat) — William Parker drove in four runs with a homer and two singles, and the Army Black Knights used a parade of eight pitchers to overcome an early four-run deficit and defeat the Saint Peter’s Peacocks 9-4 on Tuesday evening at Johnson Stadium at Doubleday Field.

The game’s decisive momentum shift occurred in the bottom of the first inning. After the visiting Peacocks (2-18) stunned the home crowd by plating four runs in the top of the frame on a two-run single by RJ Azarieh, the Black Knights (12-10) responded immediately. Parker erased half the deficit with a two-run homer to left-center field off Saint Peter’s starter Joe Tonnotti. Army then patiently worked three walks and two hit-by-pitches in the inning, tying the game on an RBI single by John McKillop and taking a 4-4 tie on a hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded by Mason Scott.

Army seized the lead for good in the second. Chris Barr walked, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Parker’s sacrifice fly. McKillop added another RBI single later in the inning to push the advantage to 6-4.

From there, the Black Knights’ bullpen took over, extinguishing any chance of a Saint Peter’s rally. After starter Mark Abell and Joe Vaccarella combined for the first three innings, six Army relievers — Max Donecea, Walker Calvo, William Leahy, Michael Delph, Anthony Ramirez and the starter Abell — held the Peacocks to just three hits over the final six frames. The quintet of Donecea, Calvo, Leahy, Delph and Ramirez did not allow an earned run.

The most critical pitching performance, however, came from the opposition. Saint Peter’s reliever Alex Angelidis entered with two on and one out in the third inning and proceeded to shut down the Army offense. He pitched 4 1/3 innings of hitless, scoreless baseball, striking out two. His effort kept the Peacocks within striking distance at 7-4 until the late innings.

Army added an unearned run in the seventh on a sacrifice bunt by JT Craig and secured insurance in the eighth when designated hitter Josiah Overbeek launched a solo home run to right field off reliever Luca Bruno.

Saint Peter’s managed only five hits total, with Azarieh collecting two RBIs. The Peacocks scored two unearned runs in the ninth on a two-out error by Army shortstop, but could not mount a serious threat.

Parker, who entered the game in a 1-for-13 slump over his previous four contests, was the offensive catalyst for Army, finishing a perfect 3 for 3 with the homer, a sac fly and four RBIs. McKillop added two hits and two RBIs.

The victory improved Army to 12-10 on the season as it looks ahead to a weekend series against service academy rival Navy. Saint Peter’s, which has lost 17 of its last 18 games, continues its difficult season with a road game at La Salle on Wednesday. The game result outperformed the projection from Interstat’s game simulator, which had forecast a 7-2 Army win, though the Black Knights’ win probability was calculated at 90.9% pregame.