DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - A fly ball lost in the lights of Sliwa Stadium fell between two Tampa outfielders in the bottom of the ninth as the Embry-Riddle Eagles celebrated their sixth win over a ranked NCAA II team in 2016 by beating Tampa, 8-7 in walk-off fashion. The Eagles (19-11) saw an outstanding effor from starter
Corey Tufts go for naught as the defending national champion Spartans (22-5) overcame a four-run deficit in the ninth to force the Eagles to bat in the home-half of the inning, but
Joshua Garcia took a 1-0 pitch from UT reliever Christopher Williams to deep right center to bring in
Liam Goodall for the winning run. The win marked the Eagles' first win against the No. 2 Spartans since a 7-6 win over then-No. 8 UT on April 12, 2011.
Friday was scheduled to be a doubleheader for the two teams, but a two and a half hour rain delay before the fifth inning in the opener caused just one contest to be played and the series finale is slated for an 11 a.m. first pitch on Saturday.
The first eight innings belonged to the Eagles and Tufts as the senior righty gave the home team a herculean effort, holding the potent Tampa offense to just three runs on five hits while striking out nine over the course of eight innings, including returning to the mound following the two and a half hour rain delay.
The Blue and Gold staked Tufts to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning as
Jonathan Camp delivered a two-run double down the left field line to plate both
Tobias Moreno and
Enderson Velasquez before scoring himself on a double from
Kyle Zirbes.
Tufts went 1-2-3 in the second before his team gave a pair of additional runs in the bottom of the frame, the first on a Velasquez sacrifice fly to left center, plating
Tobias Moreno, and the second on a Zirbes triple to right as Goodall scored.
The Spartans got a run back in the fourth to trim the deficit to 5-1, and after the Eagles failed to score in the home fourth, the game was delayed due to rain.
Tufts took the mound after the delay, working around a two-out single to send the game to the bottom of the inning where the Eagles scored two more runs, both on a
Cody Bogart two-out, two-RBI double to left center as
Matt Jacobs and Zirbes came in to score after both were hit by pitches.
UT answered with two runs off of Tufts in the sixth, but with the Spartans threatening for more with runners at second and third, Tufts got a foul out off the bat of Michael Kleinman to keep ERAU in front, 7-3.
Tampa turned to left-hander Jimmy Hodgskin in the bottom of the sixth and he tossed three perfect innings to keep the ERAU advantage just four runs. Tufts struck out the final batter he faced in the eighth, his ninth of the contest before giving way to
Dylan Demarest in the ninth.
The Spartans strung together three consecutive singles through the infield, just out of the reach of the Eagle infielders, loading the bases for Cody deNoyelles. deNoyelles hit a ball hard back up the middle, striking off Demarest and when Demarest tried a desperation throw to first, the ball went down the right field line as three total runs scored and deNoyelles came all the way around to third.
Joey Swinarski came in for Demarest as Demarest exited the game after being hit by deNoyelles' base knock. An RBI groundout from Casey Scoggins tied the game at 7-7, but the Spartans weren't done as J.D. Osborne doubled to right center a few batters later. Swinarski got out of the jam by fanning Vin Cosenzo to strand Osborne at second.
Goodall started the last of the ninth with a perfect bunt down the third base line, moving to second on Velasquez's sacriifce bunt. After Camp grounded out to short, advancing Goodall to third, Zirbes was intentionally walked to get to Garcia, and he and the lights at Sliwa did the rest.
Swinarski (3-3) got the win in an inning of relief, while Tufts went eight innings, allowing just three runs for the Eagles.
Goodall finished 2-for-5 with two runs, while Zirbes was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored. Camp and Bogart each had a pair of RBIs for the Blue and Gold and Garcia got the game-winning hit to finish 1-for-4.
