DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – After three days off, the seventh-ranked Embry-Riddle Eagle offense and defense looked rusty as the visiting Indiana Tech Warriors came away with a 5-1 victory over the Eagles on Thursday evening at Sliwa Stadium. The Eagles (21-4) saw their 11-game winning streak snapped by Indiana Tech (8-6) as the home team was held to just four hits while the Eagle defense committed five errors in the contest.
Daniel Puckett took the ball for the Warriors and was outstanding, holding the Blue and Gold to just four hits over his seven innings of work, allowing one unearned run en route to his third win of the 2013 season. Puckett fanned eight Eagle batters while walking two giving way to Justin Kalusa in the eighth. Kalusa was nearly perfect, pitching the final two frames for IIT without giving up a hit, striking out one and walking two to earn his first save of the year.
The Warriors struck first in the opening frame when Bryan Brudi doubled home Kalusa, who started the game in centerfield for IIT, after Kalusa singled with two outs off of Eagle starter
Kevin Lindheim, giving the Warriors a 1-0 lead.
Lindheim did not allow a hit the rest of his outing, striking out five total Warriors in four innings of work.
The Eagles were able to scratch across a run in the fourth when
Jeff Lemon reached on an infield error, moving to second on a Lindheim ground ball.
Matt Jacobs drove in ERAU's only run in the contest with a two-out double, but Puckett struck out
Liam Goodall to end the Eagle scoring threat.
Stetson Nelson worked around a leadoff single in the fifth and a one-out single in the sixth to keep the Eagles level with IIT at 1-1, but
Dylan Demarest, who relieved Nelson in the seventh, found himself in trouble in the eighth when a single and hit-by-pitch put Warriors on first and second with no outs. A failed pickoff attempt at second moved both runners up a base and Kalusa brought in both runs with a single to center, giving the Warriors a 3-1 advantage.
Embry-Riddle put two runners on in the home-half of the eighth, but Kalusa ended the inning by getting Jacobs to fly out to left with
David Belardes and Lindheim on the bases.
Ben Christian drove in two Warriors insurance runs in the ninth off of
Benjamin-Antwan Brown, accounting for the 5-1 final, and the Eagles went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the frame to fall for the first time since Mar. 2.
Embry-Riddle travels to West Palm Beach for a crucial Sun Conference series against Northwood this weekend. Friday's first pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
