DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - A 10-day layoff did the Embry-Riddle baseball offense some good as the Eagle bats erupted for 19 hits en route to a 14-8 win over Flagler on Tuesday night at Sliwa Stadium. The Eagles (3-4) snapped a three-game losing skid to the Saints (6-6), while also stretching their winning streak to three in advance of their first Sunshine State Conference series this coming weekend.

Nearly four hours of baseball were played on Tuesday as the Saints and Eagles battled back-and-forth over the first half of the game until a huge Eagle inning in the seventh secured the win for the Blue and Gold. The contest featured five lead changes and 11 different pitchers took the mound for the two squads.

Flagler struck first with a lone run in the first against ERAU starter Garrett Goodall, but Kyle Guttveg immediately got the run back as he homered on the first pitch from Flagler's Aaron Simple, marking the first long ball of the season for the Eagles.

After Simple got two outs following Guttveg's homer, Luis Olivier beat out an infield single to keep the inning alive before Kirk Sidwell doubled him home, his first of three doubles on the night, giving ERAU its first lead of the contest.

Goodall struck out the side in the second, but the Eagles stranded a pair of runners in their half of the frame and the Saints took that momentum and turned it into a three-run third inning, all coming off a two-out double from Steven DiPuglia.

Sidwell started the bottom of the third with a triple and Zach Howard plated him with a double down the left field line, bringing ERAU within a run at 4-3. After the Eagles got two runners on with two outs in the third, the Saints gifted ERAU a pair of runs when Guttveg was able to reach thanks to an infield error as both Howard and Cole Habig scored.

Flagler answered the Eagle rally with one of its own in the fourth, retaking the lead, 6-5, on a two-out, two-RBI double from Dillon Reed. Those runs would be the last either team would score for several innings until Embry-Riddle gained the lead for good in the last of the sixth.

Olivier collected a one-out walk before Howard reached on an infield single with two outs. Mike Lawson ripped a triple to right center to score both runners, making it 7-6 in favor of the hosts.

Troy Naab, working his second inning of relief in the seventh, worked around a two-out single and walk to keep ERAU in front and the Eagle offense rewarded him with a six-run rally in the bottom of the frame.

John Devine got things started with a pinch hit, leadoff single before Colin Ludwig doubled to right center and Kyle Marsh singled to left, bringing in a run. Olivier hit an absolute moonshot down the left field line in the dense fog that cleared the fence and extended ERAU's lead to 11-6 before Howard homered for the 30th time in his career a few batters later, scoring both himself and Sidwell who doubled for the third time in the game just earlier.

Flagler got a couple of runs in the top of the eighth, but an RBI ground out from Olivier after Marsh tripled with one out in the bottom of the eighth got one of those runs back for the Eagles and accounted for the 14-8 final.

Dominic Jeancola, who got the last out of the eighth and recorded his first-ever collegiate at-bat in the same inning, closed things out for the Eagles, working around a two-out single to strike out Ja'Kobi Dasher and end the game.

Sidwell finished 4-for-5 with all four hits going for extra-bases, while Howard went 4-for-5 with three RBIs and three runs scored. Olivier drove in four runs on two hits with three runs.

Howard's two extra-base hits pushed him into a tie with Kenny Holmberg (2004-05) for 10th all-time in program history with 57.

Naab (2-0) got the win for the Blue and Gold, going 1.2 innings, allowing just one hit with no runs. Jeancola tossed the final 1.1 innings, striking out three. 

The Eagles hit the road for the first time in 2019 this weekend when they travel to Ft. Lauderdale to take on Nova Southeastern. Game time for Friday, Feb. 22 is set for 6 p.m., while Saturday's doubleheader is slated to begin at 1 p.m.