Boxscore

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Chad Modomo made his first start in an Embry-Riddle uniform, and it proved to be a good one as his five-hit complete game pushed the Eagles to .500 on the season with a 5-2 victory over No. 18 Tennessee Wesleyan. ERAU improved to 2-2 as TWC slipped to 1-2 overall.

Playing as the visitor in their fourth conseuctive game in Montgomery, the Eagles suffered two base running blunders in the first frame after their first two batters reached base safely, wiping out any ERAU scoring chance.

Tennessee Wesleyan started the home-half of the first by drawing a walk and Anthony Boix singled through the right side to put runners on first and second with no outs. A strike out and pop out sandwiched a wild pitch that advanced the runners, setting up TWC with runners on second and third with two outs. Taylor Oldham dropped a bloop single into left field to bring in both runners, giving the Bulldogs an early 2-0 lead.

Embry-Riddle put together a nice two-out rally in the top of the second when third baseman Jeff Lemon was hit by a pitch and then went first to third on a failed pickoff attempt by TWC starter Josh Culler that went all the way to the fence beyond first base. Tyler Robbins worked a full count before knocking Lemon in with a double down the right field line, cutting the Eagle deficit to one run.

Modomo went one-two-three in the home-half of the second and kept the Bulldogs off the scoreboard in the third to send ERAU back to the plate in the top of the fourth.

Again, it was a two-out rally that gave the Eagles a scoring chance, and it was Lemon that began it again. Lemon singled to center field and then moved to second on Robbins' walk. Both runners moved up a base on a balk, setting the table for Greg Smith. Smith took the second pitch he saw down the left field line, bringing in both runners, before he astutely moved to second on the throw home. With the single, the Eagles took a 3-2 lead, an advantage that Modomo and ERAU would never surrender.

Modomo got a huge shut down inning in the fourth, stranding Oldham at third when he struck out Bulldog catcher, Dale Ricketts to end the threat.

Another three-up, three-down inning from Modomo gave Embry-Riddle momentum heading into the sixth, and the Eagles responded with a run on yet another Robbins two-out double down the right field line, bringing in Ian MacGeorge who had singled to begin the frame.

Modomo struck out the side in the bottom of the sixth, and ERAU would add their final insurance run in the seventh on a MacGeorge single that scored Ben Kline.

An Eagle error allowed the first Bulldog to reach in the seventh, but Modomo was up to the task, striking out the next two batters and getting Travis Burnside to ground out to short to end the game.

Modomo went all seven innings for the complete game, moving to 1-0 with the win. He allowed five hits and two runs while striking out 10.

Robbins was 2-for-2 with two RBIs and a run scored and Smith finished 1-for-3 with a pair of RBIs.

The Eagles will travel back to Daytona Beach to host Florida Memorial in the Eagles' home and conference opener on Feb. 3 at 6 p.m.