DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle softball team swept visiting Southeastern on Saturday, clinching a berth in The Sun Conference Tournament along the way. The Eagles took game one by a score of 5-3 before walking off with a 1-0 eight-inning victory in game two.
 
The Eagles are now 21-16 and 10-4 in conference while the Fire are 27-14 and 5-5 in league play.
 
The Blue and Gold officially clinched a berth in the conference tournament when South Carolina Beaufort finished its doubleheader sweep of Northwood, but Embry-Riddle's game two victory would have been enough to earn the bid on its own.
 
Game 1 – ERAU 5, SEU 3
 
Jessica Osteen put the Eagles ahead early in game one when she singled home Sarah Huey in the bottom of the first inning.
 
After Southeastern tied it in the second, the score remained 1-1 until the fifth inning when the Fire got a two-run triple from Nicci Hopps to take a 3-1 lead.
 
Embry-Riddle wasted no time getting those runs back, as the Blue and Gold batted around in the bottom of the fifth, scoring four times. Robi Zimmerman doubled home Anna Battison and Talia Barraco to tie the game at three. Two batters later, Jennifer Estrada delivered a two-out RBI single after the SEU third baseman dropped a foul ball that could have ended the inning. Chanley Burge followed with an RBI double to make it 5-3 Eagles, which would prove to be the final score.
 
Alexis Estrada (12-7) got the win in relief, pitching three scoreless innings allowing just one hit with six strikeouts.
 
Zimmerman was 1-for-2 with a double and two RBIs while Burge was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
 
Cat Maldonado (1-2) took the loss, giving up four runs (two earned) on four hits and a walk in 2.2 innings of relief.
 
Hopps was 1-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs and Maldonado went 1-for-3 with an RBI.
 
Game 2 – ERAU 1, SEU 0 (8 inn.)
 
The second game featured a prototypical pitchers' duel, with neither side denting the scoreboard until the last batter.
 
The Eagles got leadoff singles in each of the first two innings, but both times the leadoff runner was erased without ERAU threatening to score.
 
The first runner to reach third base was Espinosa in the fourth inning, but a ground out followed by a fly out ended the inning with her still on third.
 
DeVyn Barker led off the fifth with a triple, giving SEU its best scoring threat of the game, but Alexis Estrada wasn't fazed, inducing a pop-up, ground out and strikeout to retire the side with Barker still standing at third base.
 
Kim Pierce got a hold of the second pitch in the top of the seventh and sent Burge to the fence in left, but Burge was able to make the catch just shy of the wall.
 
Haleigh Lewis led off the bottom of the eighth with a hard-hit line drive that nearly went for a walk-off home run, but ended up hitting the base of the wall in left field for a leadoff double. After Jennifer Estrada bunted Lewis to third, Burge struck out swinging. With two outs and a runner at third, Southeastern Head Coach Anna Welsh elected to intentionally walk Espinosa and Huey to set up a bases-loaded situation for Barraco. The decision didn't work out for the Fire, as Barraco laced a single into center field for the game-winning hit, scoring Lewis with the game's only run.
 
Alexis Estrada (13-7) got her second win of the day, hurling eight shutout innings. The senior gave up just two hits and one walk with four strikeouts.
 
Barraco was 2-for-4 with the only RBI of the game and Lewis was 1-for-3 with a double and the only run scored.
 
Lauren West (12-6) took the complete game loss, giving up one run on seven hits in 7.2 innings of work. West walked two (both intentional) and struck out four.
 
Barker was 1-for-3 with a triple and Ashley Maynard was 1-for-3 with a double, accounting for the Fire's two hits in the game.
 
The Eagles return to action on Wednesday, April 16 for the final regular season doubleheader of the year. Embry-Riddle will host Webber International at 3 p.m. Wednesday's games will be Senior Day for the Eagles, where seniors Alexis Estrada, Alex Wood, Samantha Smith, Ariel Brayer and Jori Walan will be honored between games. Live stats and live streaming video will be available for both games at erauathletics.com/live.