LAKELAND, Fla. - Fourth-ranked Embry-Riddle completed their third Sun Conference sweep of the 2012 season on Saturday, taking both games of the scheduled twin bill against Southeastern, 4-1 and 5-4. The Eagles jump to 31-9 overall and 16-2 in The Sun Conference with three TSC series left to play. The Fire drop to 22-19 overall and 6-12 in league play.
Game 1 -
Boxscore
The Eagles took an early 2-0 lead, and were never really threatend as
Adam Paulencu earned his fourth win of the year.
Embry-Riddle got a run in the first and the second innings off of SEU starter Grant Porter, giving Paulencu a cushion to work with.
Frankie Arias doubled to right field to start the game, moving to third on a fly ball from
Ben Kline.
Ian MacGeorge came up clutch with a two-out double to right center, plating Arias and giving the Eagles an early lead.
Adam Cellini started the second inning exactly like Arias began the first, with a double to the outfield.
Tyler Robbins, Cellini's courtesy runner, would touch home on a Arias groundout to third base, bringing the score to 2-0 in favor of the visitors.
Paulencu threw five scoreless innings to begin the game, stranding several Fire runners in the early going.
Southeastern finally got on the scoreboard in the sixth. Four Eagle errors allowed Bily Glessner to score and cut the lead to 2-1.
Embry-Riddle got the run back in their half of the seventh when
Matt Skipper singled in Kline, pushing the Eagle advantage back to two runs at 3-1.
The Blue and Gold tacked on another run in the eighth as
Jeff Lemon's single through the right side chased in Robbins from second.
Paulencu kept the Fire off the scoreboard in the eighth, giving way to Eagle closer
David Lidyard in the ninth. Lidyard was perfect in the frame, facing the minimum in picking up his third save of the year.
Paulencu (4-1) scattered seven hits, giving up one unearned run while setting down six Fire batters via the strikeout.
Four different Eagles picked up an RBI, while Cellini was a perfect 3-for-3 with his courtesy runner, Robbins scoring two runs.
Game 2 -
Boxscore
Inclement weather pushed back the start time of the series finale by two hours, and the layoff showed early, as neither team was able to get anything going offensively.
Daniel Eaton and Dimitri Nunez went pitch-for-pitch through the first three frames, neither allowing the other's team to push across a run.
It was the Eagles who took the lead in the fourth, but looked to threaten for more. ERAU loaded the bases for
Chris Page, and Page flew out to deep right field, scoring Arias from third, but the Eagles were doubled up trying to tag from second, and Nunez got out of the frame with a strikeout.
The Fire answered right back in the bottom of the fourth on a Brandon DeRespiris double down the right field line, plating Daniel Mims.
Eaton and Nunez threw scoreless fifths, but once again the Eagles were able to manufacture a run in the sixth.
Greg Smith singled and moved to second and then third on consecutive wild pitches. Arias brought Smith in with an RBI groundout, and the Eagles took a 2-1 lead.
Embry-Riddle scored three runs on four hits in the eighth, and they wound up needing all of them by the end of the game. Lemon collected an RBI with a single scoring Robbins, and Page scored two runs with a big two-out single to left center, plating both Kline and
Jordan Johnson.
Eaton gave up a single run in the eighth, but got two outs before Lidyard relieved him. Lidyard got DeRespiris to pop up to
JT Warmoth at second to end the frame.
Southeastern gave the Eagles a scare in the ninth, scoring two runs and putting the tying run on base before Lidyard was able to end the game with a flyout from Mims.
Eaton (4-2) got the win for ERAU, allowing two runs on 10 hits while fanning five. Lidyard earned his second save of the day and fourth of the season with a 1.1 inning outing.
Page recorded three RBIs for the Eagles, and Smith finished 2-for-4.
Next up for the Eagles is their annual exhibition game against the Daytona Cubs on Wednesday, Apr. 4 at Historic Jackie Robinson Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
