WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle softball swept a doubleheader at Northwood on Saturday, winning by scores of 6-5 and 4-1. The Eagles now stand at 18-13 on the year and are 7-1 in The Sun Conference, while the Seahawks are 11-15 and 2-2 in league play.
 
Game 1 – ERAU 6, NU 5
 
The Eagles jumped out in front early in game one on a first-inning RBI single from Talia Barraco. The Eagles had runners at the corners with two outs, but couldn't push across a second run.
 
Northwood came back to tie it at 1-1 on a Sara Aylesworth RBI single in the bottom of the second. On the play, Haleigh Lewis cut down a runner at the plate to end the inning and keep the Seahawks from taking the lead.
 
ERAU took advantage of a pair of Northwood errors in the third to retake the lead, with Sarah Huey scoring on a ball hit by Barraco that was thrown away by the pitcher.
 
Aylesworth tied the game once again in the bottom of the fourth with another RBI infield single, knotting the game at 2-2.
 
The Seahawks took their first lead of the game the next inning on a Rachel Dirks RBI double, putting the home team ahead, 3-2.
 
Cassidy Miller doubled home a pair of runs with two outs in the sixth, giving Northwood a 5-2 lead heading to the final inning.
 
The Eagle offense picked up in its last at-bat, sending eight batters to the plate and scoring four times. Rae Heuer led off with a pinch-hit single and Dee Espinosa followed by drawing a seven-pitch walk. After Huey singled to load the bases, Jessica Osteen hit a sac fly that scored Anna Battison. Barraco followed that with a base hit that scored Huey and Espinosa, tying the game at 5-5. After Barraco moved to third base on a passed ball, Samantha Smith delivered a base hit on a 3-2 pitch to drive in Barraco with the game-winning run.
 
Robi Zimmerman breezed through the bottom of the seventh on eight pitches, setting the Seahawks down in order to secure the 6-5 win.
 
Zimmerman (7-8) got the complete game win, giving up five runs (two earned) on 10 hits with a pair of walks.
 
Barraco finished 3-for-4 with a run scored, three RBIs and two stolen bases, while Smith was 2-for-2 with a walk and an RBI. Huey went 1-for-4 with two stolen bases and three runs scored and Espinosa was 0-for-2 with two walks and a run scored.
 
Laura Downs (5-8) took the complete game loss, giving up six runs (five earned) on nine hits with four walks and one strikeout.
 
Aylesworth finished 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBIs while Miller was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.
 
Game 2 – ERAU 4, NU 1
 
The Seahawks struck first in game two with a two-out RBI double off the bat of Karina Pasarell in the bottom of the fourth, giving NU a 1-0 lead.
 
The Blue and Gold rallied back in the next half-inning, plating three runs in the fifth, doing all the damage with two outs. Espinosa got it started with a two-out double, which was followed by back-to-back RBI doubles from Huey and Osteen. Barraco capped the scoring with an RBI single to make it 3-1 ERAU.
 
The Eagles added an insurance run in the seventh on a strange play that saw Barraco hit a routine grounder to third with runners on second and third. The third baseman threw home and got Espinosa caught in a run-down. Espinosa was eventually retired on a tag by the pitcher in front of home plate, but the pitcher then threw to second base to try to get Barraco for the third out. Barraco beat the throw and Huey alertly scampered to home plate, which was not covered by anyone, scoring the fourth run of the game for Embry-Riddle.
 
Alexis Estrada had a quick seventh inning, throwing just nine pitches to get the final three outs and lock up the doubleheader sweep with a 4-1 win.
 
Alexis Estrada (11-5) earned the complete game victory, giving up one run on eight hits, walking one and striking out five.
 
Huey was 3-for-4 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI, while Osteen was 1-for-3 with a double, run scored and RBI.
 
Dirks (2-4) took the complete game loss, giving up four runs on seven hits with four walks and three strikeouts.
 
Pasarell went 2-for-3 with two doubles and an RBI while Aylesworth was 1-for-3 with a sacrifice bunt.
 
The Eagles return home for their final four regular season doubleheaders, beginning with a pair of TSC matchups next weekend. The Blue and Gold will host Thomas at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 5, followed by a doubleheader against No. 16 South Carolina Beaufort on Sunday, April 6 at 1 p.m. Live video streaming and live stats will be available for both doubleheaders on erauathletics.com/live.