Boxscore
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - 2012 proved to be a repeat of 2010 and 2011 on Friday evening at Sliwa Stadium as the Sand Sharks of South Carolina Beaufort rode Michael Heesch to a 3-1 win over No. 4 Embry-Riddle, the third consecutive year USCB has won the opening game of their Sun Conference series with the Eagles. Embry-Riddle falls to 31-10 overall and 16-3 in league play while the Sand Sharks jump to 26-12 and 13-6.
The left-handed Heesch shut down the Eagle offense in a complete game victory, tossing all nine innings, surrendering just one run on eight hits with six strikeouts. Embry-Riddle's starter,
Daniel Eaton, was just as dominant as Heesch, matching him nearly the entire game, allowing USCB just six hits. However, the Sand Sharks were able to push across three runs in the game, enough for Heesch as he improved to 5-1 on the year.
Neither pitcher allowed any scoring until the fourth when USCB took a 2-0 lead thanks to a RJ Neal two-out double down the left field line, scoring Gabe Torres who walked with an out before stealing second to put himself in scoring position. A costly Eagle error allowed Keifer Youmans to reach first in the next at-bat, pushing Neal to third. Weldon Smith made ERAU pay with a single to center field, plating Neal.
Embry-Riddle struck back in their half of the fourth, but it wound up being the only time the Eagles would touch home all night.
Ben Kline began the frame with a double down the left field line, moving to third when
Ian MacGeorge flied out to deep right field. Matt Sklpper collected a clutch, two-out knock to left to score Kline, cutting the USCB lead to 2-1.
Both pitchers cruised through the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings, allowing only three hits between them.
The Sand Sharks scored a crucial insurance run in the ninth after Eaton walked Erik Armstrong to start the inning. A sacrifice bunt put the runner at second before a groundout put him at third with two outs. Neal drew a walk to put runners on the corners, and Youmans came up with a single that second baseman
Tyler Robbins was able to keep in the infield, but had nowhere to go with the throw, allowing a run to score and increasing the USCB advantage to 3-1.
Heesch went out for the ninth, but immediately looked like he was in some trouble as
Chris Page singled through the right side. MacGeorge harmlessly popped up to shallow right for the first out, but Skipper singled to put runners at first and second with just one out.
JT Warmoth swung at the first pitch he saw in the following at-bat, grounding into a game-ending 6-4-3 double play, and ending the Eagles' five game winning streak and eight game Sun Conference win streak.
Eaton (4-3) was the tough-luck loser, putting together one of his best outings of the season in nine complete innings, but Heesch (5-1) had the upper hand, throwing just 96 pitches in the contest, throwing 28 first-pitch strikes against 34 total batters faced.
Page, MacGeorge and Skipper all had two hits for the Eagles, who out-hit USCB, 8-6, but only Skipper collected an RBI on the night.
The two teams will meet tomorrow, Saturday, Apr. 7, at 1 p.m. for a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
