Eagle catcher Adam Cellini hit his first homerun of the season, a 3-run shot in the sixth.
LAKE WALES, Fla. - The Embry-Riddle Eagles took part in a back-and-forth battle with longtime rival Warner on Friday afternoon, eventually taking a 17-9 lead. However, the game was suspended due to darkness (Warner does not have lights), and will be concluded tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 11 at 10:30 a.m. before the two teams will begin their doubleheader at 11 a.m. (this is a time change from the previously scheduled 12 p.m. start time).
Adam Paulencu took the mound for ERAU, facing off against WU's Aaron Kehres. Both pitches looked to be in command early, as neither team could scratch across a run in the first two frames.
Warner drew first blood when they plated two runs in the home-half of the third, the first on a Herb Sickler single to right center that scored Johhny Groubert. Justin Zanella gave WU a 2-0 lead in the next at-bat, singling through the right side to bring home right fielder Brandon Kirby.
Chris Page recorded his second homerun of the 2012 season with a two-run blast in the top of the fourth inning, tying the game at 2-2. Page's long ball plated
Frankie Arias from first after Arias singled to begin the inning.
With the teams tied 2-2 in the fifth, the Royals hung a crooked number on the scoreboard with a four-run output in the bottom of the inning. Six straight hits off of Paulencu and reliever Robbie Ratilff gave Warner a 6-2 lead, but Ratliff was able to give ERAU a little momentum when he got Groubert to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Kehres was unable to hold the lead for WU in the sixth; the Eagles strung together six straight hits in the inning to cut the lead to 6-5 before
Adam Cellini delivered a three-RBI blast over the left field fence to give the Blue and Gold an 8-6 advantage.
Tyler Robbins started the inning with a single up the middle, then Arias,
Ben Kline,
Chris Page,
Ian MacGeorge and
Mike Gragilla followed suit with hits of their own. After a flyout gave the Eagles their second out of the inning, Cellini stepped to the dish with two runners on and hit a 2-2 pitch from reliver Corey Topa to take the lead from Warner and give it to the Eagles.
After a nice shutdown inning from Ratliff in the bottom of the sixth, the Eagles failed to score in the seventh and it was the Royals who would retake the leasd in the seventh thanks to three more hits. Brad Benbow tied the game with a two-run double to right center, and he later came around to score when ERAU reliever
David Lidyard threw a ball in the dirt, allowing Benbow to score from third, giving WU a 9-8 lead.
The Eagles exploded for nine runs in the eighth, the sixth lead change of the contest, giving them a 17-9 advantage. With the bases loaded and no outs, Arias gave ERAU a huge lift with a grand slam to left center, his first homerun of the year. Kline singled through the left side in the following at-bat, and Page hammered his second long ball of the day over the fence in right field for his fith and sixth RBIs.
Jeff Lemon brought in the final run for Embry-Riddle with a single, plating MacGeorge from second.
Lidyard stranded two runners in the bottom of the eighth, and the game was then suspended.
ERAU has 17 runs on 18 hits as it stands, with Page going 3-for-5 with six RBIs, Arias 3-for-4 with four RBIs and Cellini 1-for-2 with three RBIs.
The Eagles and Royals will engage in the rare triple-header tomorrow beginning at 10:30 a.m. with the conclusion of this game, followed by the doubleheader immediately afterwards.
