VALDOSTA, Ga. - Opening Day came a day late for the Embry-Riddle baseball team, but the Eagles were finally able to begin their 2020 season on Saturday, splitting a doubleheader with Valdosta State. ERAU (1-1) dropped the opener 6-4 before responding with a 7-3 victory in the finale, snapping a six game skid against the Blazers (1-1) that dated back to 2018.

Mike Lawson had a big day overall, collecting six hits for the Blue and Gold to go along with four RBIs (two in each game) and two runs.

Embry-Riddle will open its home schedule on Monday, Feb. 3 with a 2 p.m. contest against Tusculum as the Eagles begin year 20 in Sliwa Stadium.

Game 1 - VSU 6, ERAU 4
Valdosta State jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first three innings, but the Eagles stayed resilient and rallied for four straight runs, but ran out of innings to work with, ultimately falling in the opener, 6-4.

VSU pushed across three runs (two earned) in the first inning against Garrett Goodall and the Eagles came up empty against VSU starter Tristan Cone.

The Blazers doubled their lead in the third before ERAU got on the board for the first time in 2020 in the top of the fourth. After Robert Post, Max Law and Lawson all reached to load the bases with two outs, Cody Forster came through with a two-run two-bagger, trimming the deficit to 6-2, but Cone was able to keep the damage to just those two runs with a strikeout of Kyle Guttveg.

Dillon Moran relieved Goodall to start the bottom of the fourth and the freshman from Stuart, Florida started his college career with a pair of strikeouts and a weak ground ball to send the game to the fifth.

Cone and Moran matched zeroes in in the fifth, and ERAU was able to tally a run in the fifth when Lawson doubled home Law from first, cutting the VSU lead to 6-3.

Moran continued to stymie the Blazer offense, and the visitors kept the pressure on, scoring twice more in the eighth when Lawson brought in Post with a single up the middle, but a tough-luck line-out double play ended the Eagle rally in the frame and ERAU came up empty in the ninth to drop the opener.

Lawson and Andrew Martinez each collected three hits, while Forster and Post each had two. Goodall (0-1) got the loss in three innings of work with Moran going the final five innings, holding VSU scoreless and to just two hits while striking out six Blazer batters.

Game 2 - ERAU 7, VSU 3
Embry-Riddle got a pair of runs in the first inning of the nightcap and continued to add on throughout the game while Payton Rice delivered the Eagles' first quality start of the season and John Barone and Samuel Brunnig nailed things down over the final three frames.

Guttveg got things started with a leadoff single before moving to second and then third on a groundout and wild pitch. After Luis Olivier walked, Eric Feliz brought both Eagles home with a double to center and the visitors had their first lead of the day, 2-0.

Rice faced the minimum in the bottom of the first, but VSU starter Cooper Cain settled in after a rough opening inning with both pitchers throwing up scoreless innings until the top of the fifth.

Forster reached with one out in the inning before stealing second and then with two away Lawson collected an infield single and on an errant throw, Forster scored and Lawson moved up the second. Olivier was hit by a pitch and Post came through with the first two RBIs of his collegiate career, cranking a double to left-center for a 5-0 Eagle lead.

VSU scratched a run across against Rice in the bottom of the fifth, but the senior struck out the final two batters he faced in the inning to keep the damage to a minimum.

After a scoreless sixth, Embry-Riddle extended its lead to 7-1 in the seventh on a Lawson double that scored Forster and a passed ball that allowed Lawson to touch home.

The Blazers were able to load the bases in the home seventh, forcing Rice to exit the game and for Barone to enter. VSU scored twice, but Barone was able to stop it from getting worse as the Eagles took a 7-3 lead into the final two frames.

No offense for either team in the eighth moved the game to the ninth and after ERAU stranded a couple in the top of the inning, Brunnig entered, working around a double and walk to close the game and seal the win for Embry-Riddle.

Lawson went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs, with Feliz the only other Eagle with multiple hits, finishing with two and a pair of RBIs. Post also had two RBIs for the Eagles.

Rice (1-0) went six strong, fanning nine (an ERAU career high) and allowing just one earned run. Barone tossed two innings with no runs and no hits before Brunnig pitched the ninth with a pair of Ks.

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Notes
• Kyle Guttveg led off for the 127th and 128th times in his career, while getting the nod in center for the 149th and 150th games. Both marks are ERAU records
• Andrew Martinez collected the first hit of the 2020 season, a single in the second inning of game one
• VSU leads the all-time series with the Eagles 10-3 (7-2 in Valdosta)
• Embry-Riddle dropped to 23-9 all-time in season openers
• Robert Post became the first true freshman to start on Opening Day for the Eagles since Kyle Guttveg and Luis Olivier both started against Valdosta State on Feb. 5, 2017