FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle baseball team fought to claim the series over Nova Southeastern on Saturday, but ultimately the Eagles (20-15, 8-9 SSC) fell to the Sharks (18-14, 9-8 SSC) by a score of 6-4. ERAU tied things up in the sixth inning, but a pair of late inning runs doomed the Blue & Gold.
 
Both Matthew Coker and AJ Marinello extended their hit streaks to seven games each, with Coker adding a double on a multi-hit day. Camden Traficante also registered an extra base hit, an RBI double himself. Drew Clymer and Alex Britton both scored a run on one hit each, while Timo Aracena collected an RBI as well.
 
On the mound, ERAU threw five arms on Saturday, beginning with John Barone's start. Barone went 2.0 innings, giving up two hits and a run to two walks and two strikeouts. Tyler Donay also went 2.0 innings, yielding just two hits, but five walks to one strikeout. Keagan Perez picked up the decision after 3.0 innings of relief. He gave up just one run, while Chance Brock finished the eighth giving up one run on one hit.
 
For the second game in a row, the Eagles plated the game's first run, thanks to Traficante's double down the left field line to score Coker. In the next at bat, Marinello became the fourth consecutive Eagle to reach base safely with an RBI single to score Chase Bruno, making it 2-0 very early. But in the bottom of the first, the Lions tacked on a run off an RBI single through the left side, cutting the lead to 2-1.
 
A quiet second inning gave way to SLU tying things up in the bottom of the third thanks to a wild pitch. Saint Leo grabbed their first lead of the series in the bottom of the fifth inning, scoring two runs on one swing of the bat, an RBI double to make it 4-2. 
 
But the Eagles bounced back and knotted things up in the next half inning. Clymer sent a one-out single to left, followed by a base knock from Britton to put two aboard. Dillon Lifrieri singled to first base to load the bags, then after a pitching change, Aracena drew an RBI walk to cut into the deficit. In the next at bat, a wild pitch tied things up with Britton racing across home.
 
Saint Leo regained the lead, however, in the bottom of the seventh thanks to a one-out homer, and added one more an inning later off another home run, making it 6-4. The Eagles, however, left three runners stranded in the eighth and went down in order in the ninth as Nova escaped with the two-run win to tie the series.
 
The two clubs will meet at noon on Sunday to determine the series.