DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – After four innings on Friday the eighth-ranked Eagles' chances looked slim against Ave Maria and starting pitcher Zach Quayle. Quayle brought a perfect game into the fifth at Sliwa Stadium and his team had staked him to a 4-0 lead, but the Blue and Gold rallied to tie the game in the sixth and took the lead in the eighth before Eric Green nailed down his fourth win of the season, shutting down the Gyrene offense over the last three frames in a 6-5 victory. Embry-Riddle (27-8, 11-2) will host Ave Maria (25-14, 10-6) in a doubleheader tomorrow beginning at 1 p.m.

Senior Kevin Maloney was trying to start a new winning streak for the Eagles as he took the mound for the home team to start the contest. However, the visitors started the game with a different streak in mind, attempting to send the left-hander to his second consecutive loss, scoring three runs in the top of the first.

Pete Lesniewski's two-out double off the wall in left scored one run before Maloney issued a walk and a single to load the bases. Hunter McCarthy singled to left in the next at-bat, scoring two runs and pushing the Gyrene lead to 3-0, but was thrown out trying to stretch his base hit into a double which ended the frame for Shawn Summe's club.

Quayle, a sophomore lefty, breezed through the Eagle lineup over the first three frames, and in the top of the third, his offense got him a fourth run on Lesnieski's sacrifice fly to center, scoring Trace McDermott from third.

Maloney stranded two Gyrenes on the bases in the fourth, but again Quayle had no trouble with the top of the order for the Blue and Gold in the home-half of the frame, setting the Eagles down 1-2-3 to send the game to the fifth.

Kyle Chastain finally broke up Quayle's perfect game with a one-out single in the fifth, and on the first pitch of Jordan Johnson's at-bat, the junior from Daytona Beach singled to left center to put runners on the corners. Liam Goodall gave the Eagles' their first run of the evening on a sacrifice fly, but Quayle minimized the damage by getting Dillon Ennis to fly out down the left field line for the final out of the frame.

Ave Maria went back up four runs when Bobby Oliver grounded out to Jordan Romero at short in the sixth, plating McCarthy who had doubled to begin the inning before moving to third on a sac bunt.

Trailing 5-1, the Eagle bats exploded in the last of the sixth for four runs on four hits, starting when Romero singled up the middle against Quayle. Tyler Robbins drew a walk before Adam Cellini was called upon to put down a sac bunt to advance the runners. Jeff Lemon brought in both Eagles with a single to center and Kevin Lindheim rocketed a Quayle pitch off the fence in left to score Lemon and cut the Eagle deficit to 5-4.

Stephen Grove entered the game for Quayle with the tying-run at second and just one out, but failed to record another out as he hit Kyle Chastain with a pitch and Johnson collected his second base hit of the game with a single to right, knotting the score at 5-5. Ray Messner relieved Grove and was able to keep the game level by getting Goodall and Ennis to pop up and strikeout for the final outs of the inning.

Green took the mound to start the seventh and was dominant for the Blue and Gold, allowing just two hits and working around two errors and a passed ball over the final three frames. Green stranded Gabe Loweree at second after he singled to begin the seventh, by inducing two fly outs and striking out one Gyrene batter to send the Eagles back into the dugout.

Green ended the top of the eighth with a strikeout of Alex Sanchez with the go-ahead run at second base and when the Eagles scored the winning-run in the bottom of the inning Green once again struck out an Ave Maria hitter with a runner at second in the ninth to claim the win for Embry-Riddle.

Lindheim got a one-out base hit in the eighth before Chastain followed suit in the next at-bat, and Johnson delivered the knockout punch with a double down the left field line to score Lindheim and give the Eagles their first and only lead of the contest.

An error allowed Loweree to reach first in the ninth before he moved to second on a passed ball, but Green caught Nick Saccheta looking at strike three to end the game and the threat.

Green (4-0) got the win in relief, tossing 3.0 innings, allowing just two hits with five Ks, while Maloney threw 5.0 frames, giving up five runs and Brian Johnson pitched an inning of relief without allowing a hit for the Eagles.

Messner (3-2) was tagged with the loss, throwing 2.2 innings, surrendering one run on three hits with a pair of strikeouts. Quayle pitched 5.1 innings, giivng up five runs one five hits.

Johnson finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs and Lindheim was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Lemon (1-for-4) drove in two runs and Chastain collected two hits and scored a run.