DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Embry-Riddle baseball team survived a late-game scare to come away with a 10-8 win over NAIA No. 3 Bellevue on Sunday afternoon. The Eagles jumped out to a 10-2 lead but needed a big save from Matthew Russell to hang on for the 10-8 victory. The Blue and Gold improve to 7-10 with the win, while the Bruins drop to 7-6.
ERAU got on the board first when Zach Howard doubled home Christopher Medina with two outs in the second inning. Ryan Maxon doubled the lead with an RBI single in the fourth to make it 2-0 Eagles.
Embry-Riddle tacked on four more runs in the fifth, including a two-run home run off the bat of Luis Olivier, his first career homer. Justin Franklin also drove in a run that inning with a sac fly and Media came home on a wild pitch to make it 6-0 Eagles after five.
The Bruins got on the board in the sixth when Riley Baasch hit a two-run home run to cut the lead to 6-2. ERAU quickly answered back with three runs in the bottom of the inning, with RBI singles from Jonathan Camp and Franklin and a bases-loaded walk to Medina. The Blue and Gold increased its lead to 10-2 on a Franklin RBI single in the seventh.
Bellevue scored three times in the eighth and three more times in the ninth to turn an eight-run game into a tense situation. Baasch connected for a three-run shot in the ninth to make it 10-8 and the Bruins quickly got runners on second and third with only one out, bringing the potential go-ahead run to the plate with two men in scoring position. Russell, who came in after Baasch's home run, was able to get a strikeout and a groundout to end the game, saving the victory for the Eagles.
Kenny Burkhead (2-0) earned the win, pitching seven solid innings with just two runs allowed on five hits and four walks with seven strikeouts. Russell earned his first save, getting the final three outs with just one hit and one walk allowed, notching two strikeouts and giving up no runs.
Camp went 3-for-3 with a double, two walks, two runs scored and an RBI, while Medina was 2-for-3 with two doubles, three walks, three runs scored and an RBI. Maxon finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored, an RBI and a stolen base and Howard was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Olivier ended the day 2-for-5 with two RBIs and his first career home run.
The Eagles are back in action Tuesday, March 7th when they host Pfeiffer in a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m.
