ST. LEO, Fla. - Embry-Riddle split a twin bill on Saturday at Saint Leo's Southard Stadium, taking the first game, 12-7 before falling in the series finale, 16-4. The Eagles (22-13) mounted two comebacks in the opener before pulling away late, but the Lions (20-14) again took advantage of a big inning in the finale, scoring seven runs in the second en route to the series-clinching win.
The Eagles will play their annual exhibition game at the Daytona Tortugas on Wednesday, April 6 before returning to Sliwa Stadium to host Eckerd in a three-game set, beginning Saturday, April 9 with a single game at 4 p.m., followed by a doubleheader on Sunday, April 10 at 12 p.m.
Game 1 - ERAU 12, SLU 7
The Eagles trailed 3-0 and 6-5 in the opener, but ultimately came away with a 12-7 win, thanks in large part to
Jonathan Camp's four RBIs and he and
Enderson Velasquez scoring three runs each.
Kenny Burkhead worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the first with one out, getting a foul out and fly out to keep the game scoreless, but the Eagles couldn't respond offensively in the first three innings, and the Lions took a 3-0 lead in the last of the third and loaded the bases looking for more before Burkhead ended the inning with a fly out to right.
ERAU quickly answered with a five-run fourth to take a 5-3 lead.
Liam Goodall started the inning with a double, and after Velasquez reached on an error, Camp singled in Goodall home before
Kyle Zirbes singled to load the bases. A second SLU error of the inning allowed
Zach Howard to reach and another ERAU run to score before
Matt Jacobs was hit by a pitch to tie things up at 3-3. The Lions went to the bullpen and
Logan Malphurs delivered a sacrifice fly to give the Eagles the lead before
Dalton Hughes brought in the final ERAU run of the frame with an RBI groundout.
Saint Leo put together a two-out rally in the bottom of the fourth, capped by a three-run homer to right that gave the lead right back to the Lions, 6-5.
The third lead change in two innings happened in the top of the fifth after both Goodall and Velasquez singled to start the inning. Camp went opposite field for his seventh home run of the season, a three-run shot that retook the lead for the visitors at 8-6.
Dylan Demarest came in for Burkhead to start the last of the fifth, getting a double play to end the inning before delivering another scoreless frame in the sixth.
A solo homer in the Saint Leo seventh trimmed the ERAU cushion to 8-7, but
Tobias Moreno put together a great at-bat in the eighth with two men on base and two outs, working a 3-2 count before doubling over the centerfielder's head to make it 10-7 in favor of the visitors.
ERAU added two more insurance runs in the ninth when both Howard and Jacobs collected RBI groundouts and Demarest went three-up, three-down in the bottom of the ninth to secure the win.
Demarest (3-1) got the win in five innings of relief, allowing one run on three hits, while Camp went 2-for-4 with four RBIs and Moreno, Howard and Jacobs all drove in two runs.
Game 2 - SLU 16, ERAU 4
The big inning continued to haunt the Eagles in the series finale as the Lions took a 1-0 ERAU lead into a 7-1 SLU lead with a seven-run second frame, going on to score 11 runs total from the second through the fourth innings.
Camp gave ERAU a 1-0 lead with a sac fly in the first, but after
Corey Tufts came out of the game following a perfect first inning, the Lions took advantage, plating seven runs on five hits for a commanding six-run lead.
ERAU would get a run in the third when Goodall singled to center, plating Hughes, but the hosts responded with two runs each in the third and fourth to put the game out of reach at 11-2.
Camp drove in two more Eagle runs in the fifth on a double down the left field line, but the Lions scored the final five runs of the day while the Eagles went scoreless after the fifth.
Troy Naab (2-2) took the loss for the Eagles on the mound, while Goodall was the lone Eagle to record multiple hits in the game.
