JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Embry-Riddle Head Coach
Randy Stegall took over the ERAU baseball program in the summer of 2007, and in just a little over four seasons has reached the 200-win mark at the helm of the Eagles' squad. Stegall reached the plateau with a doubleheader sweep of Edward Waters on Saturday, 11-5 and 11-2. With the wins, the fifth-ranked Eagles improve to 14-4 overall while the Tigers fall to 2-4-1 on the year.
Game 1 -
Boxscore
The visiting Eagles took game one of the two-game set 11-5, taking a four-run lead in the second and never relinquishing it on the way to their 13th victory of 2012.
Chad Modomo took the hill for Embry-Riddle, earning his fourth win of the year behind a 5.1-inning effort and a nice offensive cushion provided by his team.
After a scoreless first frame, the Eagles struck for four runs in the second thanks to a pair of hits and two costly Tiger errors.
Chris Page began the inning with a single to right field before moving to second on an
Ian MacGeorge base knock.
Mike Gragilla worked the count full before earning a walk to load the bases against EWC starter, Trent Petit. Petit allowed the first run of the day on a wild pitch, scoring Page and allowing MacGeorge and Gragilla to each move up a base.
Garrett Gee drew a walk to again load the bags for
Adam Cellini. The Eagle catcher recorded an RBI with a ground ball to third base, and when the third baseman mishandled it, another Eagle run came across the plate to give ERAU a 3-0 lead. The Eagles tacked on another run in the inning before Modomo shut down the Tigers in the next two frames to preserve the 4-0 lead.
Edward Waters scored three unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to cut the lead to 4-3, but ERAU answered with three unearned runs of their own in the fifth to push the advantage back to a four-run lead at 7-3. Gragilla singled to right field to score
Ben Kline, before Page and MacGeorge touched home on a throwing error by the EWC third baseman.
Embry-Riddle would put the game out of reach in the sixth with another three-run frame, this time all three runs were earned, giving the Eagles a 10-4 cushion.
Greg Smith began the inning with a walk, before moving to second on
Frankie Arias' single through the left side. Kline brought both runners in with a single up the middle before astutely moving to second on the throw home. Page singled home Kline in the next at-bat for the Blue and Gold's 10th run of the contest.
EWC scored a single unearned run in the sixth before the Eagles accounted for the 11-5 final in the seventh when
James Podlucky doubled down the left field line to chase home
Jordan Romero, who had doubled to left center to begin the frame.
Modomo improved to 4-0 with the win, tossing 5.1 innings, allowing five runs (one earned), on three hits while striking out seven. Antwan Brown pitched the final 1.2 innings for ERAU, allowing just one hit.
Kline went 2-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored and Page finished 3-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
Game 2 -
Boxscore
The finale of the doubleheader was all Embry-Riddle from the beginning as the Eagles plated runs in the first five frames to come away with an 11-2 win.
Kevin Maloney continued his great start to the 2012 season as he tossed his first complete game of the season, allowing just two runs on five hits in seven innings of work.
Kline and MacGeorge picked up RBIs in the first inning to give Maloney an early 2-0 lead, and the junior from Dunedin, Fla. stranded a pair of runners on the base paths to send his team back to the plate with momentum.
Nick Godfrey started the second with a double to left center before Romero moved Godfrey's courtesy runner, Dave Belardes, over to third on a single to left field. Belardes scored and Romero moved to second when the left fielder made an error, giving ERAU a 3-0 lead. Arias singled and Kline walked to load the bases for Page against Tiger hurler, John Jones. Page liked the first pitch he saw from Jones and lifted it deep over the right field fence for his sixth home run of the year, and second grand slam as an Eagle.
With a 7-0 lead, Maloney settled in and never looked back, retiring 14 of the next 15 batters he faced. He got more run support with a two-run third, one on a Smith ground out to second, scoring Belardes and another when Arias singled to second base to bring in Romero.
JT Warmoth collected an RBI in the fourth with a single to left center that allowed Page to touch home after the Batavia, N.Y. native led off the inning with a double; and the Eagles concluded their scoring in the fifth as MacGeorge scored Smith from third on a single through the left side.
Maloney nearly had his second shutout of the season when he quickly retired the first two batters in the seventh, but an error and back-to-back singles cut the lead to 11-2 before Maloney struck out the final EWC batter to end the game.
Maloney (4-0) pitched all seven innings, giving up two unearned runs on five hits while fanning nine Tiger hitters.
All but one Eagle starter collected a hit, and Page was 3-for-4 with four RBIs and two runs scored while MacGeorge drove in two runs on two hits.
Stegall now has a career record of 269-111-1 (.707) in seven years, and a 200-66 (.752) mark at Embry-Riddle in five seasons.
The Eagles are back in action next weekend when they travel to Savannah, Ga. to take on SCAD Savannah in a Sun Conference series. A single game on Friday, Mar. 2 will begin at 3 p.m. and a doubleheader is scheduled for Saturday, Mar. 3 at 12 p.m.
