DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The 18th-ranked Embry-Riddle Eagles wrapped up their final NAIA regular season with a 7-1 victory on Sunday afternoon at Sliwa Stadium, downing Ave Maria in a make-up game from late February. The victory secured the No. 2 seed for the upcoming Sun Conference Tournament for the Eagles (32-16, 19-8), while the Gyrenes (21-34, 8-19) finished their 2015 season. Stetson Nelson shined on Senior Day as the left-hander tossed seven innings with a career-high 12 strikeouts while the ERAU offense struck for 16 hits in the contest.

Nelson got things started with a quick, 1-2-3 top of the first and the Eagles struck early for four runs in the home-half of the inning, never looking back en route to the win.

Tobias Moreno singled against AMU starter Zach Quayle, stealing second and then scoring when Liam Goodall doubled him home. Enderson Velasquez took a Quale pitch deep to center, so deep that Goodall was able to tag up from second and score on a two-base sacrifice fly. Joshua Garcia kept the inning alive with a base hit through the right side of the infield, stealing second like Moreno and scoring on a Jordan Brown single. Brown moved to second on a throwing error and then to third on a wild pitch before scoring the fourth run of the frame when Kyle Buchanan singled through the left side of the infield.

Nelson stranded a Gyrene runner at third base in the top of the second, striking out Nick Sacchetta to end the frame, and the Eagles tacked on a run in the bottom of the second when Moreno traded places with Ryan Maxon's courtesy runner, Kyle Zirbes, as back-to-back doubles gave the hosts a 5-0 lead. Ray Messner relieved Quayle after Moreno's double and was able to limit the damage to one just the one run.

Nelson struck out two more Gyrenes in the third before Messner cruised through the Eagles in the last of the inning.

The Eagle senior faced his lone rough patch in the fourth when the Gyrenes loaded the bases on two hits and an infield error. Ryan Keegan brought in the lone Ave Maria run of the game with a bloop single to right, but Nelson settled in and fanned the next two batters to keep the Eagles in front, 5-1.

Embry-Riddle got the run back and then one more in the bottom of the fourth, the first on a Goodal single up the middle, plating Jake Cavender after the senior shortstop doubled to left center. The second run of the inning came on a fielding error by the Gyrene third baseman, allowing Velasquez to score on Brown's batted ball, making it 7-1 in favor of the Eagles.

Both Nelson and Messner faced the minimum in the fifth with AMU centerfielder Bobby Oliver making the first of two spectacular catches to rob Hunter Bruehl of extra bases in the bottom of the inning.

Nelson stranded two more Gyrenes in the sixth with two more Ks and Oliver came up with another fantastic catch in center, this time denying Velasquez of at least a triple.

Nelson got his 12th strikeout in the seventh and got his own spectacular catch from an outfielder when Buchanan dove to rob Aaron Pigna of two RBIs.

An hour-long lightning delay before the bottom of the seventh halted play, but when it resumed the Eagles and Gyrenes had no more scoring left in them as the bullpens took over.

Corey Tufts pitched a perfect eighth before Brett Allen struck out a pair and worked around a leadoff single in the ninth to nail down the 7-1 win.

Nelson (7-4) got the win in seven innings of work, striking out 12 Gyrenes and scattering seven hits, allowing one unearned run. Moreno, Cavender and Goodall each had three hits while Garcia and Brown added two. Goodall registered two RBIs to lead the Eagles.

Embry-Riddle will take on fifth-seeded USCB on Friday at 3 p.m. in Fort Myers, Fla. at the City of Palms Park in their Sun Conference Tournament opener. Live stats and audio will be available at www.erauathletics.com/live