SAVANNAH, Ga. – The fifth-ranked Embry-Riddle Eagles are looking to make history this weekend in more ways than one. ERAU is just three wins away from 900 in program history, the Blue and Gold stands at 897 wins in a little over 23 seasons, an average of 38 wins per season. The Eagles hope to reach the 900-win mark with three wins against rival SCAD Savannah in what could possibly be the last-ever meetings between the two squads. SCAD has announced that baseball will be discontinued following the 2012 season.
ERAU is riding an 11-game winning streak against the Bees, dating back to Feb. 21, 2009. Embry-Riddle holds a 24-6 all-time record versus SCAD, and a 15-6 mark against them in The Sun Conference. During the 2011 season, ERAU swept SCAD in Daytona Beach (8-7, 8-0, 5-2), and in 2010, the Eagles took four games from SCAD, including one in The Sun Conference Tournament.
After a weekend series that saw Head Coach
Randy Stegall earn his 200
th victory at the helm of the Embry-Riddle program with a doubleheader sweep of Edward Waters, the Eagles enter the three-game set with the Bees with a 14-4 overall record and 8-1 mark in league play. ERAU sits alone in second in The Sun Conference as USCB holds an unblemished 3-0 mark. Embry-Riddle has a pair of conference sweeps in 2012 (Florida Memorial and Warner), and took the league series from Webber International, 2-1.
ERAU has posted a batting average of .317 as a team, ranking third in the nation with 153 runs scored on 192 hits, good for fifth in the NAIA. The Eagles have struck for 60 extra-base hits, including 44 doubles, three triples and 13 home runs. The Blue and Gold is 29-for-41 swiping bases, drawing 94 walks compared to 80 strikeouts in 2012.
Ian MacGeorge still leads the team with a .433 average (29-for-67), including 10 doubles (ranking first in the country) and two homers. The Winter Park, Fla. native has scored 17 runs while driving in 16.
Eagle first baseman,
Chris Page, has earned Sun Conference Player of the Week honors twice this season, and deservedly so. Page leads the team with six homers, 26 RBIs and 52 total bases. Page, who has already matched his 2011 total for long balls, recorded a walk off home run against Brewton-Parker on Tuesday before following it up with a grand slam against Edward Waters on Saturday. Page is hitting .377 from the plate (26-for-69) with a .444 on-base percentage and a .754 slugging percentage.
Seniors
Frankie Arias,
JT Warmoth and
Ben Kline are all hitting over .300, with Arias' .368 average third on the team. Arias leads ERAU with 22 runs scored and is 5-for-7 on the base paths. Eagle second baseman, Warmoth, has a .318 average with nine RBIs on the year. The second member of ERAU's middle infield, Kline has chased in 19 runs and has scored 20 of his own, he is also second on the team with seven stolen bases.
The Eagle pitching staff has seen their team ERA continue to shrink over the last few weeks, now standing at 3.60 for the season. In 150.0 innings, ERAU has allowed 60 earned runs on 157 hits while striking out 120 batters and holding opponents to a .269 clip from the dish.
Kevin Maloney is 4-0 with a 1.25 ERA in five starts. He tossed his first complete game on Saturday against EWC and leads all starters with 36.0 innings of work and a .220 batting average against.
Close behind is
Chad Modomo, a transfer from West Virginia Wesleyan. Modomo also boasts a 4-0 mark with a 3.06 ERA in 32.1 innings. The Winter Park, Fla. native has struck out 30 while walking only eight.
The other 4-0 pitcher is reliever
David Lidyard. His 0.00 ERA and .208 batting average against rank first on the team.
The Eagles have enjoyed solid defense throughout their first 18 contests, posting a .970 fielding percentage which is currently tied for the best single-season mark in ERAU history. Embry-Riddle has committed just 20 errors, and has turned 15 double plays.
The Bees will play host to the Eagles, losers of five of their last six games, including a split with Edward Waters on Tuesday in Jacksonville, Fla. SCAD is 13-11 overall and 1-5 in The Sun Conference. The Bees took one game from Southeastern, but were swept by St. Thomas this past weekend.
SCAD averages .273 from the plate, scoring 83 runs on 143 hits in 24 games. The Bees are led by Carson Parker and Mark Malec, both of whom hit .371 from the dish. Malec's 23 hits leads the team, and his 10 RBIs rank second behind Matt Zajac's 12.
The SCAD pitching staff has a 5.58 ERA in 142.0 innings, surrendering 103 runs on 170 hits. Bennie Sanchez and Matthew Rogers have garnered six and four starts respectively, as Sanchez has posted a 4.55 ERA in 27.2 innings and Rogers has a 4.22 ERA in 21.1 innings. Opponents are hitting .308 off of the Bees' pitchers.
SCAD is under the direction of former Embry-Riddle assistant coach, Doug Wollenburg who brings a 284-255 career record into the weekend series.
