DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Embry-Riddle baseball team pounded out 13 hits and drew 10 walks on Wednesday night as the Blue and Gold routed visiting Aquinas, 16-8. The Eagles threw five pitchers on the night, getting solid two-inning efforts from Tyler Cyr, Corey Tufts and Austen Thrailkill. The win improves ERAU to 14-10 on the season, while Aquinas falls to 2-3.
Both teams swung the bat well on Wednesday, with the Saints jumping on the board early with a run in the first. Embry-Riddle rallied back with three quick runs in the bottom half, keyed by a two-run triple from Liam Goodall.
Enderson Velasquez singled home Jake Cavender in the bottom of the second to make it a 4-1 game in favor of the Eagles, but the lead would prove to be short-lived. Aquinas put together a six-run third inning to retake the lead, 7-4.
ERAU cut the deficit to 7-5 on a Hunter Bruehl RBI double in the third, and the Eagles drew even once again thanks to a Joshua Garcia RBI fielder's choice and an Aquinas error in the 4th, knotting the game at 7-7.
Aquinas regained the lead for a third time with a run in the fifth, but the Eagle pitching staff would shut down the Saints' offense for the final 4.2 innings.
AU held its slim 8-7 lead until the bottom of the sixth when Embry-Riddle sent 11 men to the plate. A.J. Mazzurco led off with a walk and Goodall was then hit by a pitch. After Velasquez drew a five-pitch walk, Garcia sent a double to the left-center field gap to score two runs, putting the Eagles ahead, 9-8. After Jacobs walked, Bruehl singled in a run, and Kyle Zirbes followed with an RBI walk to make it 11-8. Dalton Hughes hit the next pitch into deep left-center field for a bases-clearing triple and Cavender capped the inning with an RBI groundout. The Blue and Gold finished the inning with eight runs on three hits, pulling away to a 15-8 lead.
Embry-Riddle tacked on a run in the eighth on a dropped fly ball to account for the 16-8 final score.
Garcia finished 2-for-5 with with a double and three RBIs, while Goodall was 2-for-4 with a triple, two RBIs and three runs scored. Bruehl went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs and Velasquez was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored.
Tufts (4-2) got the win, pitching two scoreless innings of relief, allowing two hits and striking out five. Cyr started and threw two innings of one-hit, one-run ball, and Thrailkill pitched the eighth and ninth innings allowing no runs on one hit with two strikeouts.
Colin Brand was 1-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored for Aquinas, while Brad Sils was 2-for-3 with a stolen base and a run scored and Casey Wila was 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI.
Matt Krzykwa (0-1) took the loss, allowing nine runs (eight earned) on four hits in thre einnings of relief, walking six and and striking out two.
