ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. - Embry-Riddle struggled to find outs over the final five at-bats for host Flagler on Tuesday night as the Saints scored 14 unanswered runs from the fourth through the eighth to defeat the Eagles, 16-6. ERAU (27-16) led 3-2 after the top of the fourth, but the Saints (24-17) worked through six Blue and Gold pitchers to send the Eagles to their seventh road loss of the year.
Nick Dearing started for ERAU on the mound, quickly finding himself down 2-0 after the Saints scored twice in the bottom of the first.
The Eagles tied things up in the third when
Enderson Velasquez delivered a two-run double, scoring
Cody Bogart and
Tobias Moreno after they walked and singled, respectively. ERAU would go on top briefly when Bogart plated
Joey Swinarski with a two-out base hit after Swinarski doubled in the fourth, but Flagler came back to knot things up at 3-3 in the home-half of the frame, starting their 14 straight runs over the next five innings.
The Saints went ahead by a lone run in the fifth before blowing the contest open with a five-run sixth, followed by a three-run seventh and four-run eighth.
Embry-Riddle was held scoreless from the fifth through the eighth before
Jimmy Jones III collected a pinch hit single with two men on, later scoring on a Moreno single to right, accounting for the final score, 16-6.
Moreno was the only Eagle with multiple hits, finishing 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored while both Velasquez and Jones each collected a pair of RBIs.
The Eagles return to Sliwa Stadium for their final home game of 2016, a 6 p.m. contest against Webber International, tomorrow, Wednesday, April 20. Tomorrow night's game will be Senior Night for the nine ERAU baseball seniors.