ST. PETERSBURG, Florida - On a wild Saturday of baseball that saw dramatic swings of momentum over 18 innings, the Embry-Riddle Eagles grabbed a pair of victories over Eckerd, 12-10 and 6-5, coming away with a road series win in Sunshine State Conference play. For the Eagles (14-14, 4-8 SSC), it marked their fourth straight weekend series victory, their second straight SSC series win, and their 12th and 13th wins over their last 16 contests. The Tritons (12-15, 6-6 SSC) saw their string of five straight wins over the Blue and Gold snapped.

The Eagles finally return to Daytona Beach next weekend after an eight-game road swing; the Blue and Gold will host No. 1 Tampa at Sliwa Stadium starting with a 6 p.m. game on Friday, April 1.

Game 1 - ERAU 12, Eckerd 10
In Saturday's first game, the Eagle offense registered 12 runs on 13 hits, and a big six-run seventh inning propelled the Eagles to a 12-10 win to even the series with the Tritons.

Embry-Riddle started early, scoring three in the first, including two runs on an Andrew Martinez single, making it 3-0 after Zach Coldsnow brought in the game's first run with a single of his own, scoring Alex Britton.

Kelsey Ward worked a scoreless home first, and limited damage in the bottom of the second to just one run, moving the game to the third with a 3-1 Eagle advantage.

Robert Post smacked a two-run homer just to the right of center in the top of the third frame, but the Tritons rallied for four runs in their half of the inning, knotting the game at 5-5.

ERAU had the bases loaded in the fourth with one out, but a double play erased the Eagle opportunity, and the visitors would also go quietly in the fifth.

The Tritons took their first lead of the day with an unearned run off John Barone in the home fifth, but Barone kept the deficit at 6-5 through the sixth, and the Eagle offense came through big time in the seventh.

Things started in the inning when Daniel Trillo walked, he later scored on a fielder's choice, tying the game at 6-6. The Eagles then put together a huge two-out rally with the bases loaded. Kevin Vittoria got an infield single to put the Eagles back in front, and then Matthew Coker singled up the middle, plating two more Eagles before a Triton error on a Trillo batted ball brought in two additional ERAU runs for an 11-6 lead.

Eckerd hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh, and then a solo homer in the eighth, trimming the Eagle cushion to 11-9. The Tritons would get one more run in the eighth to make it a one-run game before Joe Balsam got out of the inning with the lead intact.

Another Triton error in the ninth allowed Vittoria to score a crucial insurance run, but the Tritons were still able to get their first two batters on base against Balsam in the bottom of the ninth. A ground ball double play erased the potential tying run off base, and Balsam punctuated the win by striking out Mitch Donofrio for the final out of the game.

Barone (2-0) got the win in 2.1 innings of relief, while Balsam got his sixth save of the year. Vittoria went 4-for-5 at the plate, while Coldsnow, Post, Martinez and Coker all had two RBIs. 

Game 2 - ERAU 6, Eckerd 5
In the series' rubber game, the Eagles put forth a relentless effort, capped by an improbable ninth inning comeback to win the series over the talkative Tritons. Embry-Riddle was down to its last strike in the final frame, but a Coldsnow triple drove in the tying and go-ahead runs for the Blue and Gold, and Balsam took care of things in the bottom of the inning, securing the series for ERAU.

ERAU, which had trailed 5-3 since the sixth, had gone fairly quietly in the seventh and eighth innings, but it was a different story in the Eagles' last at-bat. Richey Lakes got the rally started with a leadoff walk, but a fielder's choice erased the Eagles' lead runner for out number one. A quick fly out pushed ERAU to the brink, but Martinez kept things going with a single to left, moving Max Law to second. Jeremy Kennedy-Davis took a 1-0 pitch right back up the middle, scoring Law to make it a 5-4 game, and bringing the potential tying run into scoring position. Coldsnow stepped into the batter's box against the Triton closer and fouled off one 1-2 pitch before crushing the next pitch he saw to left center, driving the ball all the way to the fence to plate both Martinez and pinch runner Justus Burke for a 6-5 lead.

Balsam, on a few hours rest, got two quick outs before a single kept Eckerd's hopes alive, but a ground ball to second was swallowed up by Vittoria and the out was made to give the Eagles the one-run victory.

The Eagles had led 3-1 in the fourth thanks to a Ryan Carroll two-run double, but the Tritons scored four straight runs to take that 5-3 lead in the middle of the contest.

Jonathan Martin (1-1) was the winner for the Eagles, pitching two scoreless innings of relief, and Balsam grabbed his seventh save of the season. Garner Spoljaric started for the Eagles, allowed just two runs on five hits in 4.2 innings, striking out five. 

Carroll and Coldsnow each had two RBIs for Embry-Riddle, while Martinez scored twice