DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Sunday was a day of two extremes for the fifth-ranked Embry-Riddle Eagles. In the conclusion of Saturday's suspended game, the Eagles couldn't seem to get going offensively, falling to Indiana Tech, 3-1. However, in the series finale, Embry-Riddle set a season-high mark in both runs and hits, coming away with an 18-5 victory and winning the three-game series, two games to one. ERAU earns win No. 20 on the year, improving to 20-7, while the Warriors now stand at 11-6 overall.
Game 1 -
Boxscore
Indiana Tech starter Tyler Snoke kept the potent Eagle offense off-balance for much of the seven-inning contest in game one, and the Warriors were able to score three runs off of Eagle starter,
Daniel Eaton, proving to be enough to earn the victory, 3-1.
Eaton and Snoke worked nicely through the first three frames, but Eaton was touched up for three runs in the fourth on five IIT hits. Brandon Paletta began the inning with a double to right field scoring on a Colin DeDecker double to right center. Eric Wald singled DeDecker over to third with one out before Ignatius Mackenzie singled into left field for the second run of the game. Tyler Watts doubled down the left field line plating Wald from third, but Eaton was able to strand two on the bases with a pair of shallow flyouts by Jake Owens and Jeff King.
Ben Kline was stranded on third base in the fourth, but the Eagles were able to strike for a single run in the fifth when
Jeff Lemon started the inning with a triple to left center.
JT Warmoth walked and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from
Adam Cellini.
Greg Smith recorded the only ERAU RBI of the contest with a groundout to second, but the Eagles couldn't cut into the lead anymore as
Frankie Arias flew out to center field to end the frame.
Neither team got anything going in the sixth, and
David Lidyard relieved Eaton in the seventh with a runner on second with one out. Lidyard got a foul out and a strikeout to end the inning.
The Blue and Gold were almost able to pull off a seventh-inning comeback as
Ian MacGeorge and Lemon both singled to begin the inning. Warmoth executed a perfect sac bunt to put both runners in scoring position before
Mike Gragilla pinch hit for Cellini with one out. Gragilla flied out to left field for the second out, but Smith was able to keep the game going with a two-out walk in the next at bat. Kyle Nolen came in the game for the Warriors, and Nolen got Arias to ground a ball right to the second baseman for the final out of the game.
Snoke (3-0) earned the win, while Eaton (1-2) received the loss. Lemon and Kline were the only Eagles with multiple hits.
Game 2 -
Boxscore
The Eagles took out their game one frustrations on the Warriors in the series finale, exploding for 18 runs on 21 hits and 17 RBIs. 21 Eagles saw action in the game while 23 Warriors got into the game for Indiana Tech.
Chad Modomo was able to bounce back from two tough losses in his last two starts to earn the win for the Eagles. Modomo threw six innings, allowed one run on three hits while fanning five Warriors.
ERAU began the scoring in the home-half of the second when Cellini recorded the first of his three sacrifice flies of the game, bringing in MacGeorge on the throw. MacGeorge started the inning with a double to left field and moved to third on a wild pitch.
Embry-Riddle extended their lead in the third with a three-run outing, a pair of runs coming on MacGeorge's second double of the day, as Kline and
Chris Page scored for the Eagles. MacGeorge came around to score on Cellini's second sac fly, giving ERAU a 4-0 advantage.
The game was busted open in the fourth when ERAU touched home seven times on seven hits and an IIT error, giving Modomo an 11-0 cushion. Lemon, Kline, MacGeorge, Cellini,
Jordan Romero and Smith all collected RBIs in the inning as ERAU sent 12 batters to the plate.
The Warriors scored once in the sixth, but the Eagles answered with three runs in their half of the inning, with Romero, Smith and Arias recording RBIs.
Eric Green relieved Modomo in the seventh, followed by
Robbie Ratliff in the eighth and
Andrew Lytle in the ninth. Lytle made his collegiate debut in the game.
The Eagles scored another four runs in the eighth on five hits, including the first-ever Eagle hits by
Mike Huber and
Brett Tressler.
Nick Godfrey, who came in to catch for Cellini, recorded an RBI as well for ERAU.
Modomo (5-2) was given the win for the Eagles, while Eric Zagone (2-2) was tagged with the loss.
Seven Eagles had multiple hits in the contest, three each for Lemon, MacGeorge, Romero and Smith. MacGeorge, Cellini and Romero chipped in three RBIs each.
Embry-Riddle hosts Northwestern Ohio on Thursday, Mar. 15 at 6 p.m. at Sliwa Stadium.
