DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – In the final two games that made up the weather-shortened Embry-Riddle softball tournament, the visiting Georgia Gwinnett Grizzlies won twice against the host Eagles by scores of 4-3 and 8-3.
 
With the wins, GGC improves to 3-0 on the season, while ERAU drops to 1-2.
 
Game 1 – GGC 4, ERAU 3
 
The Eagles mounted a late rally but came up just short in the first game, falling 4-3.
 
Talia Barraco went 2-for-3 with two doubles, a run scored and an RBI, while Sarah Huey was 2-for-4 with two steals and an RBI.
 
Alexis Estrada took the loss in her first start of 2014, hurling a complete game, allowing four runs on 12 hits with two strikeouts and no walks.
 
Jordyn Fones led the Grizzly offense with a 3-for-4 effort, scoring once, while Haley Thompson, Marlee Morales and Heather Kilar all went 2-for-3, with Thompson and Kilar collecting one double each.
 
Kayla Byrom got the win to move to 1-0, pitching 6.1 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and two walks with three strikeouts. Ashley Beyke came on to record her first save, getting the final two outs of the game without allowing a baserunner.
 
Neither side threatened offensively until the top of the fourth, when GGC put together a four-hit inning to score twice. Alycia Fields opened the scoring with a fielder's choice that scored Fones. Morales followed with an RBI single, scoring Heaven Hinton to make it 2-0.
 
After Thompson drove in the third Grizzly run in the fifth, Embry-Riddle got on the board in the home half of the inning. Anna Battison reached on a bunt single to open the inning, and Barraco drove her home with a one-out double. The Eagles had runners on first and third with one out in the inning, but couldn't push another run across and trailed 3-1 after the fifth.
 
The Grizzlies got the run back in the sixth to take a 4-1 lead, a score that held until the bottom of the seventh.
 
Dee Espinosa got the rally started with a one-out single in the last frame, followed by another Barraco double. Huey drove Espinosa home with a single up the middle to make it 4-2, forcing Byrom out of the game. With Beyke pitching, Zimmerman drove a fly ball to center field, scoring Barraco to make it a one-run game. Beyke didn't let the Eagles get any closer, inducing a fly ball off the bat of Jessica Osteen on the very next pitch, ending the game.
 
Game 2 – GGC 8, ERAU 3
 
Embry-Riddle fell behind early in the second game and ended up trailing by as many as seven runs before getting on the scoreboard, a deficit that proved to be too much to overcome.
 
Barraco again had a solid game at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a double, run scored and RBI. Alex Wood went 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI, while Samantha Smith was 1-for-1 with a sac bunt, walk and run scored.
 
Robi Zimmerman got the start and took the loss, evening her record at 1-1 this season. She pitched four-plus innings, giving up seven runs (five earned) on nine hits, walking two and striking out two. Taylor Cowan saw her first action of the year, pitching the final three innings, allowing one unearned run on just one hit with three walks and a strikeout.
 
Thompson led GGC, ending up 3-for-3 with two doubles, a triple, two RBIs and a run scored. Morales was 3-for-4 with a triple, three RBIs and a run scored, while Kilar went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
 
Beyke pitched a complete game to pick up the win, improving to 2-0. She gave up three runs (two earned) on seven hits, walking two and striking out two.
 
The Grizzlies wasted no time getting on the scoreboard three times in the top of the first. Thompson tripled home two runners to open the scoring and Morales singled Thompson home to make it a 3-0 game after just five batters had hit.
 
Cassidy Littlefield tacked on another run for GGC with an RBI triple in the fourth, making it 4-0 Grizzlies.
 
Morales knocked a two-run triple and then scored on a Kilar single to increase the margin to 7-0 in the top of the fifth, which resulted in ERAU Head Coach Sarah Lockett bringing in Cowan from the bullpen. After Cowan threw a pair of wild pitches to the first batter she faced, the freshman settled down to get out of a bases loaded, nobody out jam without any more runs scoring.
 
Embry-Riddle found some offense in the bottom of the fifth, with Barraco knocking in Espinosa for the first run and Lewis driving in Barraco to make it 7-2.
 
Each team scored once in the sixth to make it 8-3, which would prove to be the final score.
 
The Eagles return to action on Saturday, Feb. 15, when they travel to Clermont, Fla. for the NAIA Southern Challenge. Embry-Riddle plays just one game in the tournament, facing off against Point at 1:15 p.m. The next day (Feb. 16), ERAU will travel to Boca Raton, Fla. for a doubleheader at NCAA II Lynn beginning at 1 p.m. Live stats for all three games will be available at www.erauathletics.com/live.