MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle baseball team fell 4-3 to the Florida Tech Panthers in the opening game of a three-game series on Friday night. The Blue and Gold held a 3-1 lead in the sixth inning but couldn't hold on, falling to 9-15 overall and 0-7 in SSC play, while FIT improves to 11-15, 3-7 in league games.
 
After the Panthers took a 1-0 lead in the fourth, Embry-Riddle answered with a pair of runs in the fifth on a two-run single off the bat of Kyle Marsh. Cody Bogart singled home Alex Dodd in the sixth to put the Eagles up 3-1, but Florida Tech came back with two runs in the bottom half to tie the game at 3-3.
 
The teams remained knotted up at 3-3 until the bottom of the ninth, when FIT plated the winning run on a walk-off sacrifice fly to win 4-3.
 
Marsh went 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs, while Dodd was 2-for-4 with a stolen base and two runs scored. Bogart and Luis Olivier each tallied a pair of hits, with Bogart also tallying an RBI.
 
Daniel Agramont went 6.2 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, walking five and striking out seven. Dominic Jeancola (2-3) took the loss, allowing one run on two hits in 1+ innings of work, walking one and striking out two.
 
The Eagles and Panthers will continue their series with game two tomorrow at 1 p.m. in Melbourne.