DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The 16th-ranked Embry-Riddle Eagles put themselves just one win away from a trip to the Avista-NAIA World Series with a 9-3 win over Rio Grande (Ohio) on Wednesday afternoon, 9-3 behind the strong start from
Zac Grotz and a 19-hit offensive output. The Eagles (38-17) will advance to Thursday's 6 p.m. championship game and they will need to be beaten twice by a yet to be determined opponent. The RedStorm (34-21) will play tomorrow at 10 a.m. against the winner of Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) and Bryan (Tenn.) in an elimination contest.
Grotz took the mound and was masterful for seven complete innings, allowing just four hits and no walks while fanning six Rio batters. The senior improved to 8-1 on the year and dropped his season ERA to 0.66 in 68.2 innings of work.
The Eagles got an early lead with a run in the second before a three-spot in the third pushed their advantage to 4-0, and Grotz held the RedStorm at bay through his seven innings of work, getting another four runs from his offense in the fourth.
Rio rallied for three runs in the eighth against
Corey Tufts, but
Clayton Wagner tossed the final 1.1 innings, striking out two to secure the ERAU victory, 9-3.
After a quiet first,
Matt Jacobs drew a two-out walk from Landon Hutchison, moving to second on
Kyle Buchanan's single.
Hunter Bruehl came through with a clutch, two-out RBI single up the middle to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
Grotz worked a seamless bottom second and ERAU went up 4-0 in the third thanks to three consecutive hits by
Jake Cavender,
Liam Goodall and
Enderson Velasquez, the last of which, an RBI double.
Joshua Garcia grounded out to bring in another run before Jacobs collected a base hit and RBI with a shot through the left side.
Grotz worked out of a jam in the fourth, facing the minimum in the fifth and sixth as ERAU enjoyed an 8-0 lead after Cavender cleared the bases with a double to left, later scoring on a Velasquez single, all in the sixth frame.
Embry-Riddle got one more run in the eighth when Buchanan plated Goodall with a base hit, but the RedStorm pushed across three in the bottom of the eighth against Tufts to chase him from the game before Wagner struck out Malduino Gonzalez to end the threat.
Moreno finished 3-for-6 while Cavneder went 2-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Goodall reached 80 hits on the season with three hits and two runs scored while Velasquez finished 2-for-5 with two RBIs. Both Buchanan and Bruehl collected three hits in the victory.
