AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle baseball team kept to its winning ways on Sunday, taking down Minnesota Duluth, 5-2, in the RussMatt Invitational. The Eagles (11-6, 2-1 SSC) have won three consecutive games after the outing.
 
ERAU used 10 hits on the afternoon to take care of the Bulldogs, led by Dillon Lifrieri's 2-for-4 day with two runs scored and two RBI. Chase Bruno (2-for-4, RBI), Camden Traficante (2-for-4, R) and backstop Cameron Martinez (2-for-3, R) also had multi-hit games in the effort. 
 
On the hill, the Eagles showcased Justin Webster to start, as the sophomore went 3.1IP giving up just one hit to three strikeouts, but did walk five before getting pulled in favor of Keagan Perez. Perez, who earned the win on the day, worked for 2.2 innings, yielding just one run on one hit with one walk to five strikeouts. Tyler Donay (0.2IP, 1K), Joe Balsam (1.0IP, 1ER, 2K) and Max Meyer (1.1IP, 1H, 2K) all pitched well down the stretch to keep UMD out of contention.
 
After a scoreless first, the Eagles attacked with two in the second. Timo Aracena drew a leadoff walk, the immediately crossed home in the next at bat thanks to a Lifrieri triple to left. Lifrieri then came home subsequently on a balk to make it 2-0 quickly.
 
Webster moved ahead with ease through the second and third, but after three consecutive walks to load the bases in the fourth, Perez came on to shut the door. He got Albeck swinging to end any threat in the frame.
 
The Bulldogs went quietly in the bottom of the fifth, then Lifrieri made another dent in the scoreboard with a towering home run to center to extend the lead to 3-0. UMD got one back in the bottom of the frame, however, with a home run of its own to end the team shutout.
 
In the seventh, Traficante led the Eagles off with a big double to left, then Tyler Castelli added his sixth extra base hit of the year with his second triple of the year to score Traficante, quickly making it 4-1. Perez and Donay combined to get a pair of strikeouts in the bottom of the seventh, before Bruno plated Martinez with a single to right in the top of the eighth, making it 5-1.
 
Minnesota Duluth added another homer in the bottom of the eighth, but then Meyer came on to officially shut the door, ringing up two of the final five UMD batters to secure the ERAU win.
 
Up next, the Eagles travel to the Low Country of Georgia and South Carolina to take on Savananah State (Tuesday) and South Carolina Beaufort (Wednesday), before returning home to begin the lengthy SSC slate with No. 1 Tampa on Saturday.