SAINT LEO, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle baseball team pushed No. 7 Saint Leo to the brink on Sunday in the series finale, but the Lions (24-3, 9-3 SSC) were able to walk off the Eagles (15-10, 4-5 SSC), 4-3, in the ninth inning.
 
ERAU scored its three runs on just six hits, but had things tied up by the seventh inning. Max Meyer was saddled with the loss in the end, but worked a gem in relief until the end. After Jacob Hoppe took the ball and went a solid 2.2 innings, Tyler Donay finished the third inning before giving way to Meyer. Meyer held the Lions to just one hit through a full trip around the order, but two hits and a walk in the final inning delt the damage.
 
At the plate, Camden Traficante and Matthew Coker each collected a pair of hits including a double, while Traficante, Chase Bruno and Dylan Brazil brought the three runs across. 
 
The Lions raced out to a quick 2-0 lead after the first and eventually held the Eagles' bats without a hit for the first four innings. In the bottom of the fourth, SLU added another run on a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0.
 
But the bats woke up for ERAU in the fifth. Coker led things off with a double and eventually came around on a Brazil groundout after Jeremy Kennedy-Davis singled Coker to third. Alex Britton then singled to center to put runners at the corners, followed by a Bruno sacrifice fly to change the dynamic of the game at 3-2.
 
Both sides collected just a hit apiece in the sixth, before the Eagles struck again in the seventh. Bruno reached first on a fielder's choice, then in the next at bat, a ripping double down the right field line by Traficante, hustled all the way around the horn to tie things up at 3-3.
 
Meyer gave up just one hit in the eighth while Traficante and Bruno turned their second double play of the day to move things forward to the ninth. The Eagles went quietly in their half, but the Lions pounced in the home half. SLU loaded the bases in the blink of an eye with two singles and a walk. Joe Balsam come on in relief and kept the ball on the ground for the force out at home for the first out, but in the next at bat, a lazy fly to mid center field was all that was needed for the final run of the game, making it the 4-3 final.
 
The Eagles are back on the diamond on Friday for another SSC battle with Florida Tech at Sliwa Stadium.