WINTER PARK, Fla. - The Embry-Riddle baseball team snapped a seven-game losing streak on Saturday by winning a 12-inning affair in the second game of a doubleheader at Rollins, 14-10. The Blue and Gold dropped the front end of the double dip 7-3. With the split, ERAU now stands at 4-9 on the season, while the Tars move to 9-3.
Game 1 - RC 7, ERAU 3
The Tars got on the board early, plating three runs in the first to take a 3-0 lead. Embry-Riddle answered back in the top of the second with a pair of runs thanks to an RBI single from Robbie Hanlon and a sac fly from Kyle Guttveg, trimming the deficit to 3-2.
Rollins built its lead up to five (7-2) with single runs in the fourth and fifth and a pair of runs in the eighth. Guttveg knocked in Cody Bogart with a base hit in the ninth but the Eagles couldn't come any closer, falling by a 7-3 final score.
Troy Naab (0-2) took the loss, allowing five runs (four earned) on 10 hits, walking three and striking out eight. Guttveg went 1-for-4 with two RBIs while Bogart was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored and Hanlon finished 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Game 2 - ERAU 14, RC 10 (12 inn.)
Game two saw both teams do plenty of damage on offense, as both clubs combined for 24 runs on 24 hits. The game started off quite the opposite, as neither team was able to get a baserunner until the third inning, and the scoring didn't commence until the fourth.
The Blue and Gold opened the scoring in the top of the fourth, beginning with a three-run home run off the bat of Justin Franklin, his first as an Eagle. ERAU tacked on two more runs with RBI doubles from Hanlon and Ryan Maxon to open up a 5-0 lead.
Rollins answered back with a pair of runs in its half of the inning, only to see ERAU counterpunch with three runs in the fifth. Zach Howard doubled home A.J. Mazzurco, Christopher Medina singled in Howard and Maxon drew a bases-loaded walk to push ERAU to an 8-2 lead.
Medina scampered home on a wild pitch in the seventh to put the Eagles ahead 9-2. That score would hold until the bottom of the ninth when the Tars sent 13 men to the plate and took advantage of four walks and one hit batter issued by the Eagle pitching staff to score seven times, tying the game at 9-9. After allowing the game-tying two-run double and an intentional walk to load the bases with only one out, Matthew Russell got a strikeout and a pop out to escape the inning and send the game to extras.
The pitching staffs took over in the 10th and 11th as nobody reached base in either inning. The 12th inning, however, was a different story entirely. Hanlon and Maxon drew back-to-back walks to open the inning and Bogart put the Eagles in front with an RBI single. Two batters later, Jonathan Camp delivered an RBI single to make it 11-9 and Guttveg scored on a wild pitch two batters after that increase the lead to 12-9. Franklin pushed across two more insurance runs with a two-out base hit, giving the Eagles a 14-9 lead.
The Tars took advantage of an error in the bottom of the 12th to scratch across one run but Russell limited the damage and got the final out to secure the 14-10 win for the Blue and Gold.
Kenny Burkhead started the game for ERAU and tossed 8.1 innings, allowing five runs on five hits with four walks and eight strikeouts. Russell (1-1) earned the win, pitching the final 3.2 innings, giving up just one unearned run on two hits and a walk with five strikeouts.
The Eagles pounded out 15 hits in the game, led by Medina's 3-for-7 effort, while Franklin was 2-for-6 with two runs and five RBIs and Maxon finished 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.
ERAU is back on the field next weekend when they host former Sun Conference foe Florida Memorial in a three-game series, beginning with a single game on Friday at 5 p.m.
