LAKELAND, Fla. - The Embry-Riddle baseball team got it's first win at Florida Southern's Henley Field since 2012 on Friday night as the offense plated 11 runs en route to an 11-7 win over the Mocs. The Eagles, 18-10 overall, improved to 7-3 in Sunshine State Conference play as ERAU snapped a seven-game losing streak against FSC (17-12, 3-7 SSC) thanks to big games from
Kirk Sidwell and
Luis Olivier among others.
Sidwell got things started for the Eagles in the first inning when he hit his first homer of the season to give ERAU a 2-0 lead after
Kyle Marsh walked with two outs.
The home team would get a run back in the bottom of the inning before
Daniel Agramont stranded two runners with back-to-back strikeouts.
After a scoreless second, the Eagles struck for two more runs in the third frame, the first on a Olivier sacrifice fly to plate
John Devine, and the second on a
Cole Habig single up the middle to score Marsh and give the visitors a 4-1 lead.
The Mocs chased Agramont in the third and were able to score twice in the inning before
Troy Naab got out of the frame with a 4-3 lead. But that was as close as the Mocs would get the rest of the night as ERAU answered with a four spot in the fourth and never looked back.
Devine drove in the fifth Eagle run with a double to plate
Kyle Guttveg and Sidwell doubled his RBI total with a two-run single to center before the senior scored on another Olivier sacrifice fly, making it 8-3.
Jake Malone added a run with a double in the fifth to bring in Habig and
Troy Naab continued his scoreless work in the bottom of the middle innings.
Olivier notched his 24th career long ball in the sixth, a two-run homer as Marsh scored for the fourth time after his fourth walk of the game with Embry-Riddle going up 11-3.
Naab exited after the sixth, and the home team was able to chip away with two runs in the seventh and two more in the ninth, but the Eagles lead was too much for the Mocs to overcome as ERAU held on for the 11-7 final.
Naab (6-1) got the win in four innings of relief work, not allowing a run or a hit with four strikeouts.
Sidwell finished 2-for-4 with four RBIs and two runs, while Olivier went 2-for-3 with four RBIs and a run. Marsh scored four times for the Eagles, Devine collected two hits and Habig finished with three base knocks.
ERAU will look to win the series tomorrow at 3 p.m. in Lakeland.