DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – It had to come to an end sometime. Embry-Riddle senior
Kevin Maloney suffered his first loss in 34 games and three seasons in an Eagle uniform on Thursday night as the Lewis-Clark State Warriors blew open a 1-1 game with a three-run eighth inning en route to a 5-1 win over Embry-Riddle at Sliwa Stadium. The Eagles (23-7) suffered back-to-back losses for the first time in 2013 while the Warriors (24-5) extended their winning streak to 12 consecutive contests.
Maloney was dominant for the hosts through the first six innings, allowing just four hits and one runner to reach scoring position. However, the Dunedin, Fla. native was matched pitch-for-pitch by Warrior ace Anthony Armanino. The pair of lefties surrendered just five hits over the first half of the game with neither team really threatening to score.
The Eagles took their first lead of the series in the sixth when
Jeff Lemon singled in
Liam Goodall from second with two outs in the frame. Goodall reach base on a single before moving to second on a sacrifice bunt.
With a 1-0 lead, Maloney took the mound for the Blue and Gold and quickly set down the first two Warriors in order in the seventh. But the eighth-ranked visitors started a two-out rally with a Bobby Joe Tannehill single, followed by a Brian Corliss single that put runners on the corners. Kevin Knapp knotted things up with a single through the right side of the infield, plating Tannehill from third.
Embry-Riddle wasted a one-out double by
Adam Cellini in the seventh and the flood gates opened for LCSC in the eighth. A single, double and triple put the visitors up 3-1 before an out was made.
Eric Green relieved Maloney but didn't last long as
Ronnie Lozada was called on to try to get out of the jam with runners on the corners with no outs. A sacrifice fly brought in the fourth run of the evening for the Warriors before Lozada was able to get a strikeout and fly out to end the threat.
Armanino had no problem in the home-half of the eighth, going three-up, three-down to send his team back to the dish where they added an insurance run to account for the 5-1 final.
Embry-Riddle failed to reach base in the last of the ninth resulting in the fourth loss in six games for the Eagles.
Armanino (6-1) threw a complete game, four-hitter for his sixth victory of the year. He struck out four Eagles and walked none.
The two teams will meet for two more games, one each on Friday and Saturday beginning at 6 p.m.
