GAMEDAY CENTRAL
#8 Embry-Riddle (26-8, 10-2) vs. Ave Maria (25-13, 10-5)
DATE: Friday, Mar. 29 - Saturday, Mar. 30, 2013
CITY: Daytona Beach, Fla.
SITE: Sliwa Stadium
FIRST PITCH FRIDAY: 6 p.m.
FIRST PITCH SATURDAY: 1 p.m. (DH)
LIVE STATS: Stretch Internet
CURRENT EMBRY-RIDDLE STREAK: W1
LAST 5 GAMES: 3-2
LAST 10 GAMES: 5-5
CURRENT AVE MARIA STREAK: L2
EMBRY RIDDLE AT HOME IN 2013: 21-7
AVE MARIA ON THE ROAD IN 2013: 13-3
SERIES: Embry-Riddle leads 6-0
LAST MEETING: ERAU won, 3-1 | Apr. 23, 2012
AT A GLANCE
In the biggest Sun Conference series to-date, the Eagles host Ave Maria beginning tonight at 6 p.m. The matchup between Embry-Riddle and the Gyrenes will feature the first-place and third-place teams in the league with ERAU at 10-2 in conference play and AMU at 10-5. St. Thomas (14-4) sits in second place and will travel to Hardeeville, S.C. for a conference series against the Sand Sharks of USCB.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
Pitching, pitching, pitching...and pitching. Since 1994, Embry-Riddle has had just one season with a team ERA over 4.00 (2001 - 4.21) and has become nationally as ERA-University, consistently boasting one of the pitching staffs in the country. The Gyrenes have followed the Embry-Riddle blueprint and have put together a tremendous staff in just four years as a program. The Eagles and Gyrenes rank first and third in ERA in The Sun Conference while the two teams go 1-2 in opponents batting average.
SCOUTING AVE MARIA
Head Coach Shawn Summe brings his team into Daytona Beach on a two-game skid, dropping the series finale to St. Thomas on Saturday before losing a mid-week game to Clearwater Christian on Monday. However, last week the Gyrenes posted arguably the biggest win in program history with an 8-6 victory over NCAA I No. 23 Florida Gulf Coast on Mar. 17.
The Gyrenes rank in the top 10 nationally in 16 stat categories, including first in total at-bats (1251), total putouts (973) and total innings pitched (324.1). AMU has played 38 games on the year and was the first NAIA program to reach 20 wins this season.
Ave Maria will most likely send the trio of Joe Bocchino, Ethan Striz and Zach Quayle to the mound this weekend to face the Eagles. The three Gyrene hurlers have combined for 16 wins and 180.0 of the team's 324.1 innings of work. Bocchino boasts a 6-1 record and 2.34 ERA with a team-leading 52 strikeouts. while Striz has a 4-4 record and 2.95 ERA in 64.0 innings which is sixth-most in the country. Quayle has a 2.98 ERA with a 6-2 record in nine starts.
Another thing the Gyrenes hand their hat is on their stellar defense. Ave Maria ranks 16th in the nation and first in the conference with a .966 fielding percentage (the Eagles rank second in the league at .959).
Ave Maria brings in a .297 team batting average, led by shortstop Alex Sanchez's .427 average and .529 slugging percentage. Sanchez leads the Gyrenes with 67 hits and 26 runs scored and is 13-for-15 on the bases. Gabe Loweree and Trace McDermott bring .368 and .356 averages into the weekend, combining for 94 hits and 53 RBIs for Ave Maria.
LAST GAMES: No. 8 Eagles Avenge Loss with 14-0 Shutout of Racers (Mar. 26)
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.
STARTING A NEW STREAK
Senior left-hander Kevin Maloney faces new territory tonight: trying to start a new winning streak rather than extending a current one. The News-Journal featured Maloney in this morning's local roundup: CLICK HERE.
WHO WILL WIN THE 5TH AND 6TH INNINGS?
For the Eagles and Gyrenes, one inning has proved to be the big inning...the fifth frame has provided 40 runs for the Blue and Gold while AMU has scored 41 runs in the sixth. Ave Maria averages nearly six runs per game while the Eagles score just over five runs per contest.
THE HUNT FOR A TRIP TO #DUNKCITY
With the end of March this weekend, the 10 Sun Conference baseball teams are in the home stretch of the 2013 season. The Sun Conference Tournament (Apr. 30-May 4) is held at City of Palms Park in Dunk City, Fla. and will feature the top six regular season teams. The matchups this weekend feature 1 v. 3 (ERAU - AMU), 2 v. 7 (STU - USCB), 3 v. 6 (WIU - NW), 5 v 7 (TU - SEU) and 9 v. 10 (WU v. FMU).
QUARTER CENTURY OF EAGLE BASEBALL
The 2013 season marks the 25th edition of Eagle baseball and Embry-Riddle athletics overall. The basketball, baseball, men's tennis and men's golf programs began in the 1988-89 academic year and were the foundation the rest of the department was built upon.
Embry-Riddle is 953-407-1 in 25 seasons, capturing 13 conference regular season titles, four conference tournament titles, seven regional crowns, claiming 28 NAIA All-America honors, 35 Honorable Mention All-American honors and advancing to the NAIA World Series 11 times (T-4th most in NAIA history).
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Ave Maria (25-13, 10-5)
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#8 Embry-Riddle (26-8, 10-2)
3/29/13 | Daytona Beach, Fla. - Sliwa Stadium | 6 p.m.
3/30/13 | Daytona Beach, Fla. - Sliwa Stadium | 1 p.m. (DH)
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