FORT MYERS, Fla. - Kyle Buchanan's bunt was placed perfectly down the third base line. So perfectly that Enderson Velasquez, moving from second to third on the sacrifice attempt, raced home after St. Thomas' Brandon Canizares failed to pick up the ball after it passed the third base bag, allowing Velasquez to score the championship winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning against the Bobcats. The Eagles (36-17) claimed their sixth and final Sun Conference Tournament title, 2-1 over St. Thomas (41-15) thanks to a near-superhuman pitching effort from senior Stetson Nelson. Monday's victory marked the third time the Eagles have beaten the Bobcats in the tournament title game.

Nelson, who was one of five Eagles to earn All-Tournament Team honors, was great, throwing nine frames of three-hit baseball against the Bobcats, a team that averages nearly nine runs per game. Nelson's one run allowed was unearned while his 10 strikeouts put him at 14 for the tournament.

The Eagles took an early 1-0 lead in the first, but couldn't get any more run support for Nelson and the Bobcats tied things up in the seventh to set up the drama of the extra-inning thriller.

After Clayton Wagner, who pitched the final two innings for the Eagles, got a 6-4-3 double play to end the St. Thomas 11th, the Eagles went to work in the home-half of the frame, starting with a Velasquez single through the right side against Branden Valentin.

Joshua Garcia, an All-Tournament Team member, pushed a bunt to first that he was able to beat out to put runners at second and first with no outs.

Buchanan, who up to that point in the game was held hitless, bunted the first pitch he saw from Valentin down the third base line, a ball that was destined to be an infield single, but when Canizares decided not to pick the ball up, it trickled into left field, bringing in Velasquez and setting off an eruption of cheers from the Eagle dugout and stands.

Nelson nearly had an immaculate inning in the top of the first, but his ninth pitch was fouled off by Jerry Downs. Nelson was unfazed and struck out Downs two pitches later to set the tone for the rest of the day.

Tobias Moreno slapped a single to left against Kharlin Sued to start the Eagle first, moving to second on a passed ball. Jake Cavender attempted to sacrifice himself on a bunt to third, but the throw from third was muffed by the STU first baseman, and he didn't pick the ball up quickly enough as Moreno touched home for a 1-0 ERAU lead.

From the second inning on, Sued and Nelson were nothing short of dominant, neither allowing much from either offense until an error in the STU seventh led to the lone St. Thomas run of the contest.

Nelson struck out two more Bobcats in the eighth before Marcos Barrios relieved Sued in the bottom of the inning, inducing three ground balls.

Nelson faced a stiff test in the ninth after a bunt single put Downs on first before he stole second with two outs. Nelson coaxed a harmless fly ball from Oscar Rodriguez to to keep the game tied.

The Eagles threatened in the bottom of the 10th against Valentin, but he struck out Liam Goodall to end the inning and send it to the 11th where the Eagles eventually won it in walk-off fashion.

Wagner (6-1) got the win in relief, tossing two innings with two hits allowed and two strikeouts. Garcia collected three hits while Moreno and Cavender each had two hits.

Zac Grotz, Buchanan and Cavender joined Nelson and Garcia on the All-Tournament Team. Nelson finished the tournament with 18.2 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits with 14 Ks and a 0.98 batting average against. Cavender had eight hits with two doubles and four runs scored, stealing five bases in five games. Buchanan and Garcia each had seven hits for ERAU in the tournament.

The Eagles, who earned an automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship Opening Round, will return to Daytona Beach and await the Opening Round seeding announcement on Friday, May 8. The Opening Round is scheduled to run from May 12-15 at Sliwa Stadium.

All-Tournament Team
Willi Martin, Southeastern
Patrick Kinney, Southeastern
Kharlin Sued, St. Thomas
Marcos Barrios, St. Thomas
Bryan Bermudez, St. Thomas
Kyle Buchanan, Embry-Riddle
Zac Grotz, Embry-Riddle
Jake Cavender, Embry-Riddle
Joshua Garcia, Embry-Riddle
Stetson Nelson, Embry-Riddle