DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The fourth-ranked Embry-Riddle Eagles split a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon with South Carolina Beaufort, 9-4 and 9-2. The split, coupled with USCB's 3-1 win on Friday night, gave the Sand Sharks the series; however, the Blue and Gold was able to claim the first of six spots in The Sun Conference Tournament, held May 1-5, 2012 at City of Palms Park in Ft. Myers, Fla. The series loss was the first conference series loss for the Eagles since March of 2010, and their first-ever series loss to the Sand Sharks in four seasons of competition. ERAU drops to 32-11 overall and 17-4 in league play while USCB improves to 26-12 overall and 14-7 in The Sun Conference.
Game 1 -
Boxscore
The Eagles fell behind early in the opener on Saturday at Sliwa Stadium, but managed to rally behind a strong showing from starter
Adam Paulencu and came away with a 9-4 victory.
Paulencu gave up an unearned run in the first after an Eagle error earlier in the frame allowed Ty Main to slide into second safely then move to third. Main scored when Conald Mansfield grounded out to second base, giving the Sand Sharks a 1-0 lead.
The Eagles couldn't scratch across the tying score in either the first or the second, facing off against USCB starter Adam Miller, and in the third, USCB struck for two more runs to increase their advantage to 3-0. Mansfield collected another RBI with a double down the left field line that scored one, this came after Dylan Nasiatka plated a run with an RBI groundout.
The Eagles' offense finally came alive in the bottom of the third, going for four runs on five hits to take a 4-3 lead, an advantage they never gave up.
Adam Cellini began the inning with a single up the middle before
Greg Smith singled through the right side. Both runners moved up a base on
Frankie Arias' groundout, but the Eagles looked in danger of squandering their opportunity after Miller struck out
Tyler Robbins for the second out of the inning.
Ben Kline drove in the first run with a two-out infield single, followed by a
Chris Page single that plated Smith. Both Kline and Page advanced a base on Miller's wild pitch and
Ian MacGeorge capped off the Eagle scoring in the frame with a single to center, plating both runenrs.
ERAU chipped on a run in the sixth when Cellini earned a bases-loaded walk from new USCB pitcher, Alex Graham, and after the visitors got the run back in the top of the seventh, the Blue and Gold put the game away with a four-run home-half of the inning to go up 9-4.
Robbins doubled down the left field line before moving to third on a wild pitch. He would be brought in on Kline's single and then Kline would score from second after swiping the base when
Matt Skipper recorded a two-out double to left center.
Jeff Lemon brought in Skipper's pinch runner,
Brett Tressler, with a single, and then Lemon's pinch runner,
Jordan Johnson scored the final Eagle run on Smith's single through the right side.
Eric Green releived Paulencu in the top of the eighth after two outs had been recorded, and Green worked the final 1.1 innings without surrendering a run.
Paulencu (5-1) earned the victory, throwing 7.2 innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on five hits while fanning four. Green threw the final 1.1 innings with a strikeout.
Kline finished 2-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored, and MacGeorge went 1-for-4 with a pair of RBIs.
The win also gave Head Coach
Randy Stegall his 100th win in Sun Conference play.
Game 2 -
Boxscore
The finale of the conference series was the exact opposite of game one on Saturday, with the Eagles taking an early lead before the Sand Sharks' offense got into gear and never looked back.
ERAU plated a run in the bottom of the first when MacGeorge flew out to deep center field to allow Arias to score from third on his sacrifice fly, but the Eagles left two on the bases as Skipper struck out to end the threat.
Eagle starter got two outs in the second, but a costly error before Ty Main's triple to right field cleared the bases when they were loaded, giving USCB a 3-1 lead.
Embry-Riddle got a single run back in the next half-inning when Arias returned the favor with a sac fly, chasing home Robbins from third, cutting the deficit to 3-2.
Ratliff threw up a zero on the scoreboard in the third, but the Eagles wasted a leadoff double, then a walk in the bottom of the inning to come away empty-handed.
Neither team could come up with a run in the fourth, but USCB extended their lead to 4-2 with a run in the fifth and broke the game open with four runs in the sixth, recording five hits and taking a 8-2 lead.
Embry-Riddle couldn't find an answer for USCB reliever Colton Rudd as Rudd held the Eagles scoreless the rest of the game in earning his first victory of the season.
Ratliff (5-2) took the loss,
David Lidyard and Antwan Brown both pitched for the Eagles.
Arias and Kline each had three hits for the Blue and Gold in defeat.
The Eagles travel to Lakeland, Fla. to take on NCAA II Florida Southern on Tuesday, Apr. 10 at 6 p.m.
