MONTEVALLO, Ala. – Embry-Riddle Baseball scored its first run of the season in the first inning on Friday, but a three-spot in the bottom half of the inning by Montevallo lifted the Falcons to a 4-2 win over the Eagles in both teams' season opener.
Zach Bennett got the start for the Eagles and went six innings, surrendering four runs while striking out five.
Gunnar Harrison and
Max Meyer combined for three scoreless innings in relief with Harrison recording three strikeouts.
Max Kops had the only two-hit day for the Blue and Gold, while
AJ Marinello and
Alex Imposimato registered a double apiece.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Marinello drew a walk to lead of the first inning, but was thrown out at second on an attempted stolen base.
•
Matthew Coker worked a walk of his own and advanced to third on a Kops single before scoring on another single by Malachi Pena.
• With runners on the corners and one out, Falcon starting pitcher Adiel Melendez got a force out and a strikeout to escape the jam.
• The Falcons did most of their damage in the bottom of the first as back-to-back home runs by Jackson Webster and Evan Radford gave the home team a 3-1 lead.
• A walk and a pair of singles helped Montevallo add a run to its tally in the second inning.
• In the top of the seventh,
Elias Campbell reached on a single and Marinello followed with a double to put runners on second and third for the Eagles with one out.
• Coker's sacrifice fly to left scored Campbell to cut the Falcon lead to 4-2.
• After Marinello moved to third on a passed ball, Kops was hit by a pitch, but reliever Matthew Bullard got Pena to ground out to end the Eagle threat.
• The Eagle batters were retired in order in the next two innings, giving the Falcons the 4-2 win.
UP NEXT
Embry-Riddle and Montevallo will face each other again on Saturday in the second game of the three-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. CST.
