DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Just a day after suffering their first home shutout loss in nearly three years, the Embry-Riddle Eagles scored 14 runs while pitching their own shutout of Northwestern Ohio on Tuesday evening. The Eagles (26-8) tied a single-game record with 14 walks as the Racers (7-10) issued 21 free bases in the run-rule shortened contest.
The NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll came out just mintues before first pitch on Tuesday and the Eagles dropped one spot to No. 8 overall. Lee (Tenn.) claimed the top billing in the poll, followed by Oklahoma City, Cal State San Marcos, Faulkner (Ala.) and The Masters (Calif.) in the top five. For the complete ranking,
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Junior
Kevin Lindheim started on the mound for the Blue and Gold, and although he gave up two singles in the top of the first, was able to retire the side and send his team into the dugout tied 0-0.
The Racers' Reuben Medina had a hard time finding the strike zone in the home-half of the first, hitting
Tyler Robbins and
Adam Cellini before giving up two straight singles to
Jeff Lemon and Lindheim as the Eagles took a 2-0 lead. Three walks forced Medina from the game after just 0.2 innings of work and when Engel Diaz finally got out of the frame, the home team had scored four runs on just two hits.
An error and and walk put two Racers on the in the second, but Lindheim got a pair of flyouts and a line out to send his team back to the plate where they struck for two more runs on a
Liam Goodall single up the middle, bringing the tally to 6-0 in favor of ERAU.
UNOH used six pitchers in the contest, and all but the last issued at least one walk, and four of the Racer hurlers surrendered multiple runs.
The Eagles got three pitchers into the game after Lindheim left after three frames, beginning with
Dylan Demarest before
Benjamin-Antwan Brown and
Ronnie Lozada both saw action for the Blue and Gold. Embry-Riddle gave up just six hits and one walk to the Racers while fanning four in the shutout victory.
Lindheim collected RBI walks in both the fifth and sixth, while
Jordan Johnson recorded a two-RBI single in the fifth and Lemon brought in his second run of the day in the sixth with a single to center.
Lozada faced four UNOH batters in the top of the seventh and when Ben Smith grounded into a fielder's choice to end the frame, the game was called via the mercy-rule as the Eagles held a 14-0 advantage on the scoreboard.
Lindheim (1-0) earned his first win on the staff day for the Eagles, pitching 3.0 innings, giving up four runs and one walk while striking out one. Demarest pitched a perfect two frames while Brown allowed two hits in an inning and Lozada tossed an inning of work.
Lindheim also went 2-for-3 at the dish with three RBIs and two walks, while Lemon was 3-for-3 with four runs, two RBIs and two walks and Robbins collected four walks and a hit-by-pitch in five plate appearances, scoring three runs without an official at-bat.
The Eagles host Ave Maria this weekend in a Sun Conference series between the first and third place teams in the league standings. Friday's first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
