FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida - A valiant effort by the Embry-Riddle baseball team against the No. 7 Sharks of Nova Southeastern went for naught on Friday evening as the hosts walked it off in the 10th inning, 5-4.
Jeremy Kennedy-Davis had a career day for the Blue and Gold (1-9, 0-4 SSC), going 4-for-5 with two home runs and all four runs driven in for the Eagles. The Sharks (10-0, 1-0 SSC) took advantage of some Eagle miscues defensively in both the second and 10 innings to emerge with the win.
Kennedy-Davis started the Eagles off with a two-run blast in the top of the first, and
Garrett Goodall set the Sharks down in order in the home half. However, a ball lost in the lights preceded an Eagle error in the second, and NSU hit a three-run homer to left center to take a 3-2 lead.
Goodall and his counterpart Matt Kavanaugh stranded some runners in the third and fourth innings before Kennedy-Davis hit his second long ball of the night, a solo shot in the fifth inning, to tie the game at 3-3. It marked the 49th time an Eagle has hit two bombs in a single game, the first since Kirk Sidwell did it at Barry in 2019.
Kelsey Ward took over for Goodall to start the NSU seventh, and the lefty was dominant, allowing just one hit through the seventh, eight, and ninth, but the Eagles could do little offensively.
In the 10th,
Kevin Vittoria started the frame with an infield single, and after moving to third on a wild pitch and sac bunt, Kennedy-Davis accounted for his fourth RBI of the game with another infield hit, bringing in Vittoria for a 4-3 Eagle lead.
Unfortunately, a leadoff single for the hosts was the start of a rough inning for the Eagles defensively as the tying run scored on a throwing error on a sacrifice bunt attempt. With the bases loaded and no outs, Duncan Pastore was hit by a
Joe Balsam pitch to drive in the winning run, sending the Eagles to their seventh straight loss.
Eagle hitters struck out 16 times against the Shark pitchers, while Goodall and Ward (L, 0-3) combined to fan seven NSU batters.
The two teams will meet again for a twin bill tomorrow, beginning at 1 p.m.
