PENSACOLA, Fla. - The Embry-Riddle baseball team split a twin bill with No. 17 West Florida on Saturday, coming back twice in the day's opener for a 7-5 victory before suffering an 11-4 loss in the finale in a scheduled seven inning contest as the Argos took the series from the Blue and Gold. The Eagles (10-9) were able to snap UWF's (14-7) seven-game winning streak to open play on Saturday, thanks to a big fifth inning and some solid relief pitching, but the Argos returned the favor with a big inning in the series finale, scoring five in the first frame and adding six runs later on for the 11-4 win.

The Eagles return to Daytona Beach to start an eight-game homestand on Wednesday, March 13 as they host Purdue Northwest for a DH beginning at 2 p.m.

Game 1 - ERAU 7, UWF 5
The Eagles proved to be resilient, coming back from 2-0 and 4-1 deficits to come away with the 7-5 series-evening win. Kirk Sidwell had a big game at the plate, both he and Mike Lawson collected two RBIs each, and the relief pitching of Garrett Goodall and Dominic Jeancola shut down the Argo offense over the final five frames.

The Argos got a couple of runs in the second off of Eagle starter J.C. Carrell, but Kyle Marsh cut their lead in half with a solo homer to left center in the fourth. UWF got its own round tripper in the bottom of the inning, a two-run shot that made it 4-1 in favor of the home team.

The fifth inning proved to be the turning point for the Eagles as the Argos went to the pen and Cody Forster greeted him with a leadoff single. Kyle Guttveg and John Devine followed with a single and walk to load the bases before Sidwell brought in a pair of runs with a double to the line in left. Zach Howard tied things up with a hot shot up the middle, plating Devine and making it 4-4. After UWF intentionally walked Marsh to load the bases, the Argos got a fielder's choice for the second out, but Mike Lawson came through with a big two-out, two-RBI single to right to give the Eagles a 6-4 advantage.

Goodall took over for Carrell in the home fifth and faced the minimum in both the fifth and sixth frames before working around a two-out walk in the seventh as ERAU held on to its two-run cushion.

UWF hit a leadoff homer in the eighth to make it a one-run game, but Jeancola entered and shut things down, getting out of the inning with the lead and the offense added an insurance tally when Luis Olivier scampered home on a bad throw after he and Sidwell had singled to start the inning.

Jeancola wasn't in the mood for drama as the senior picked up his second save of the year as he went three-up, three-down to complete the victory.

The Eagles out-hit the Argos, 14-7, led by Sidwell's three hits, while Marsh, Guttveg and Forster each had two hits for ERAU.

Goodall (2-0) got the win in three innings of relief, allowing one run on two hits.

Game 2 - UWF 11, ERAU 4 (7 inn.)
ERAU nearly erased an early 5-1 deficit in the series finale, but the Argos managed two runs in each of the third, fifth and sixth while the Eagle bats went quiet after the second frame.

Sidwell brought in the first run of the say with a bases-loaded sac fly, scoring Guttveg, but a foul out and ground out for the next two Eagle batters left two Eagles on base and the Argos wasted little time chasing Embry-Riddle starter Payton Rice from the contest, scoring five runs on five hits and one Eagle error to take a commanding lead.

The Eagles answered right away, plating three runs in the second thanks to a two-out rally. Marsh came through with a bases-loaded single to left, scoring Guttveg and Forster before Sidwell got another RBI hit on the day with a base knock, bringing in John Devine and cutting the lead to 5-4.

Samuel Brunnig, who got the last out of the first inning, left two men on base in the second, but the Eagles couldn't keep the momentum going in the third as UWF scored two runs thanks to three ERAU errors in the inning, going up 7-4.

The hosts added two runs in the fifth against Brunnig and two runs against Joey Gerber in the sixth and the Eagle offense would not record a hit after the second inning against UWF's Tony Rossi.

Guttveg was the only Eagle with multiple hits, finishing with two, while Marsh and Sidwell recorded the four RBIs for the Blue and Gold.