DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - A close, competitive game ended up as a blowout as Saint Leo scored seven runs in the ninth inning on Friday night to pull away from the Embry-Riddle baseball team, 12-6. The Eagles (10-21) trailed the entire game, but had gotten to within a run in the eighth before the Lions (15-14) sent 11 men to the plate in the ninth for the series-opening win at Sliwa Stadium. ERAU dropped its sixth straight home contest on Friday night, but will look to bounce back tomorrow, Saturday, April 1 for a 1 p.m. doubleheader.

A pair of first-inning errors hurt the Eagles and starter Matthew Russell as the visiting Lions scored two unearned runs to take an early lead over the Blue and Gold. However, the Eagles got a big lift when Jonathan Camp hit his fifth homer of the season (15th of his career) to right-center, a no-doubter that brought the Eagles within a run at 2-1.

Russell ran into trouble in the second as SLU registered four hits and plated two more runs, extending their lead to 4-1 before ERAU came up empty in its half of the frame.

After Russell delivered a scoreless third, Camp again gave him some more run support as he hit a single down the right field line to score both Logan Malphurs and Kyle Guttveg after the pair had reached base to start the inning via a hit by pitch and a single up the middle. Camp, who was injured on the play, had to exit the contest for Robbie Hanlon, and the new Eagle right fielder moved to second on a Chris Medina single, after a Luis Olivier walk to load the bases, the Eagles came up empty twice as both Justin Franklin and Zach Howard struck out to end the inning.

Saint Leo quickly got a run back in the fourth and then both Russell and his counterpart Tyler Bauman matched zeroes until the seventh when Bauman was relieved by SLU closer Zach Whitaker with two Eagles on and two outs. Whitaker got out of the inning by getting a line out from Medina that went right to the third baseman for the final out of the frame.

Aidan Brady went three-up, three-down in the top of the eighth, and the Eagles scratched across their fourth run of the night when Olivier scored on a wild pitch after singling and moving to second on a Howard single and then third on a wild pitch.

With their lead down to just a run at 5-4, the Lions got to Brady and his reliever Troy Naab for seven runs on just three hits in the ninth, using four walks and another Eagle error to put the game out of reach.

Embry-Riddle did get two runs in the ninth off of Dan Twitty, but Jordan Pendleton closed out the game to secure the 12-6 win.

Russell (1-5) got the loss in 7.0 innings, despite a strong outing, allowing just three earned runs. Camp went 2-for-2 with three RBIs and a run scored, while Olivier finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run.