Boxscore
AVE MARIA, Fla. - The eighth-ranked Embry-Riddle Eagles moved to within one victory of clinching the 2012 Sun Conference regular season baseball crown with their 9-0 shutout of Ave Maria on Sunday afternoon.
Adam Paulencu gave up just five hits en route to his sixth win of the year and the seventh shutout the Eagles have pitched this season. ERAU improves to 36-14 overall and 20-6 in Sun Conference play while Ave Maria slips to 22-30 and 13-13.
The Eagles got the only run they needed in the first, but chipped on eight more throughout the remaining eight frames.
Greg Smith started things off with a single to left field off of AMU starter Joe Bocchino. Smith moved to second on
Jordan Romero's sacrifice bunt and then to third when
Ben Kline grounded out to short.
Chris Page came through with a two-out RBI single to right-center to bring in Smith.
Paulencu had minimal trouble in the first and second innings, striking out two of the first seven Gyrene batters.
Smith manufactured a run in the third for the visitors, drawing a one-out walk before stealing second and then moving to third on a wild pitch. Romero singled Smith home with an RBI base knock to center field, pushing the Eagle lead to 2-0.
JT Warmoth robbed Pat Collins-Bride of a base hit in the bottom of the third when he caught a line drive off the AMU outfielder's bat, ending the frame and sending the Blue and Gold back into the dugout.
Frankie Arias singled to begin the Eagle fourth and moved to third when
Matt Skipper reached on an Ave Maria error. Warmoth collected an RBI with a sac fly to center that allowed Arias to tag third and touch home on the throw.
The Eagles added their fourth run of the game in the fifth as Smith scored on a Page single, and the Eagles busted the game open in the sixth with a three-run frame.
Matt Skipper led the inning off with his first home run in an Eagle uniform to bring the score to 5-0 in favor of the Eagles. Kline doubled down the left field line later in the inning to score two Eagles, chasing Bocchino from the game.
Ave Maria put forth their best scoring threat in the bottom-half of the sixth, putting runners on the corners with one out. However, Paulencu wasn't about to let his shutout slip away, inducing a ground ball double play to end the frame and threat.
Embry-Riddle scored twice more in the eighth when Arias and
Jeff Lemon recorded RBIs, pushing the ERAU lead to 9-0.
Paulencu struck out three Gyrenes in the final two frames and the final out of the contest came on a groundout to second base that Romero easily flipped to Page at first to end the game.
Paulencu (6-2) threw the entire nine innings, surrendering five hits without issuing a walk and striking out seven. Paulencu threw 99 pitches in his comlete-game victory.
Page was 3-for-5 with two RBIs, joining Kline who also had a pair of RBIs. Smith was 2-for-4 with four runs scored for Embry-Riddle.
The Eagles and Gyrenes will meet tomorrow, Monday, Apr. 23 at 7 p.m. at Webber International's field in Babson Park, Fla.
