DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle baseball team proved it can play with anyone in the country on Saturday, splitting a twin bill with the nation's No. 1 team, Tampa. The Eagles (14-8, 3-3 SSC) won the first game on Saturday in thrilling fashion, 14-10, before dropping the series rubber match to the Spartans (22-2, 5-1 SSC), 8-1.
The Game 1 win was ERAU's first over Tampa since 2019, and first at home over the Spartans since 2016. It was just the second loss of the year for UT, and far and away the highest run total the squad has allowed this season.
Game 1
The Spartans showed why they are the nation's top team early on as Jacob Griffith smashed a one-out homer to right early in the first to take a 1-0 lead. But leadoff artist
Alex Britton evened the ledger in the Eagles' first at bat in the bottom of the frame, and the Blu & Gold attacked.
Chase Bruno singled up the middle next, then with one out,
Tyler Castelli singled to left, putting two on. A wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position, then
Drew Clymer drew a walk to load the bags.
Dillon Lifrieri then popped a single through the infield to score two runs, then backstop
Jeremy Kennedy-Davis singled through the right side to score Clymer and move Lifrieri to second.
Dylan Brazil then reached on an error to load the bases again before the Eagles had batted around. Britton, in his second AB of the inning, reached on an error that scored two more runs. When the dust settled, it was 6-1 in favor of the Eagles.
In the top of the third, however, UT added six runs of their own. Four walks and a hit-by-pitch allowed Tampa to take a 7-6 lead on just two hits in the game. Santiago Garavito highlighted the frame with a grand slam to right.
Brazil, though, tied it up again at 7-7 in the bottom of the third scoring on a wild pitch from third. But Tampa seemed to take control again, going up 10-7 in the top of the fourth thanks to three runs on just one hit. At this point, the Spartans had 10 runs on just three hits.
Both teams suffered through a quiet fourth, before the Eagles came swinging in the bottom of the fifth.
Timo Aracena led things off with a single through the left side, then Lifrieri was hit by a pitch before Kennedy Davis brough both runners home with a booming double to left center field. Brazil then hit a well struck ball in the infield and beat out a throw, advancing on a wild pitch in the next at bat. The Spartans then got two quick outs, but after
Camden Traficante drew a walk to load the bases again, Castelli changed the trajectory of the game with a grand slam no doubter to right field, making it 13-10 in the blink of an eye.
ERAU added one more in the bottom of the sixth as Brazil singled home Aracena to make it 14-10.
Spencer Marinac along with the dynamic pitching duo of
Joe Balsam and
Max Meyer held the potent UT offense in check down the stretch, combining for 6.0 innings of work, two hits and two walks to five strikeouts of the country's best offense to allow ERAU the 14-10 victory.
Game 2
The series finale was a different tale, however. Tampa threw Division II's best pitcher, Skylar Gonzales who entered the day 6-0 with an 0.58 ERA. The Spartans attacked early and often, plating four runs in the game's opening frame. Anthony Nunez's two run homer highlighted the scoring.
UT added three more runs in the third inning to take a commanding 7-0 lead after three. The Spartans added another in the fifth to go up 8-0 before
Cameron Martinez dented the scoreboard first for ERAU. The pinch-hitting backstop grounded out, but
Josh Reynolds was able to come home on the play, making it 8-1.
Gonzales gave up just the one run in 6.0 innings of work, before Carson went 3.0 innings of two-hit ball to give the Spartans their 8-1 win to take the series.
Up next for the Eagles is another tough test with a trip to No. 7 Saint Leo on the docket Friday and Saturday.
