GULF SHORES, Ala. – The Embry-Riddle softball team played a pair of nail-biters on Saturday at the Gulf Coast Invitational, beating St. Thomas, 3-2 in eight innings, before falling to No. 23 Central Methodist, 1-0.
 
The results move ERAU's record to 6-8, while STU drops to 11-6 and CMU improves to 7-3.
 
Game 1 – ERAU 3, STU 2 (8 inn.)
 
The Eagles fell behind in the third inning when Christina Horton hit a solo home run to straightaway center field, putting St. Thomas ahead, 1-0.
 
ERAU responded to tie things up in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single off the bat of Samantha Smith, plating Ariel Brayer to make it 1-1.
 
Denise Prieto drove home the Bobcats' second run of the game with a 2-out RBI double in the top of the sixth, which gave STU a 2-1 lead.
 
The Eagles had a chance to tie it in the bottom half of the sixth with Chanley Burge reaching third base with only one out. Talia Barraco hit a ground ball to short that Burge tried to score on, but was cut down at the plate to end the scoring threat.
 
The Blue and Gold came through when it mattered most, scoring the game-tying run in its last at-bat. Anna Battison led off the seventh with a bunt single and immediately moved to second base on a sac bunt from Dee Espinosa. Sarah Huey lined the next pitch up the middle for a base hit and Battison hustled around to score the tying run, which would end up sending the game to extra innings.
 
Tournament rules dictated that the international tiebreaker be enacted once the game reached the eighth inning, so St. Thomas was able to start their half with a runner on second. After a sac bunt put the Bobcats in a good position to score, Zimmerman was able to induce a pop-up and then a ground out to keep STU off the scoreboard in the eighth.
 
In the Eagles' half, it appeared as though St. Thomas was going to return the favor and prevent ERAU from taking advantage of the international tiebreaker when Zimmerman struck out on a failed bunt attempt and Smith fouled out to first, leaving Alex Wood stuck at second base with two outs. Barraco stepped up for Embry-Riddle, lacing a single to left on the first pitch of the at-bat, and Wood never hesitated around third base, scoring the game-winning run for a walk-off 3-2 win.
 
Huey went 2-for-4 with an RBI to lead the Eagle offense, while Smith was 1-for-3 with an RBI and Barraco was 1-for-2 with an RBI.
 
Zimmerman (3-4) earned the win, pitching all eight innings and allowing two runs on eight hits, walking two and striking out three.
 
Game 2 – CMU 1, ERAU 0
 
Game two was a pitchers' duel, with one run proving to be enough to win the game.
 
Central Methodist threatened in the first inning but Alexis Estrada got a punch out to end the inning, stranding runners on first and third.
 
CMU got on the board with the only run of the game in the third inning, when Bri Ford drove in Michele Rupard with a two-out double to right field.
 
The Eagles got runners to second and third in the top of the fourth with one out, but CMU was able to escape with no runs crossing the plate.
 
Embry-Riddle again had runners on second and third in the sixth but Jessica Osteen grounded out to second base to end the inning with CMU still leading, 1-0.
 
The Blue and Gold got a pair of hits in the top of the seventh but couldn't push across the game-tying run, falling to Central Methodist by a 1-0 score.
 
Huey went 2-for-2 while Barraco and Wood were each 2-for-3 and Espinosa went 2-for-4 from the leadoff spot.
 
Alexis Estrada (3-4) took the loss, pitching all six innings and allowing just the one run on four hits and a walk, striking out eight.
 
Ford was 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI while Rupard went 0-for-2 with a walk and the only run scored.
 
Aubrey Utley (4-0) got the win, hurling a complete game shutout. Utley allowed nine hits and a walk with five strikeouts.
 
The Eagles will now await the tournament pairings for Sunday's brackets, which will be announced later today. Once the pairings are announced, the Embry-Riddle athletics site will have an updated schedule for tomorrow. Live stats for any and all of Embry-Riddle's games on Sunday will be available at erauathletics.com/live.