BOX SCORE 
 
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. –  The University of West Florida baseball team erased an early 4-1 deficit with two runs in the third and fourth innings to complete a win in its series opener with Embry-Riddle, 9-5.
 
Brandon Harmon had a career night for the Argos, going 4-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBI from the No. 2 spot in the Argonaut lineup. Every starter for UWF had at least one hit.
 
"BJ's (Brandon Harmon) big two-run home run to pull it within one, and that was really all our guys needed to get back into it. Everyone stayed focused up and down the lineup," said head coach Mike Jeffcoat. "We barreled up a lot of balls, played good defense tonight, and the bullpen was outstanding."
 
Chase Kiefer and Robert Lopez each contributed two hits. Kiefer went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI as UWF's leadoff man and scored a game-high three runs.
 
In all innings except the sixth, UWF (12-10) got off to quick starts by getting its leadoff man on. West Florida scattered its nine runs with scoring at least one run seven of nine frames.  The Argos hit a season-high four doubles, with Matt Sullivan, Ladeavon Matthews, Trevor Payne and Nic Strasser all recording one apiece.
 
The scoring started early for UWF, grabbing a first-inning run with Justin Ambrosino's GSC-high 30^th RBI of the season coming from a RBI single scoring Kiefer.
 
Embry-Riddle (9-14) responded with four runs in the bottom of the second to grab a 4-1 lead. Starter Walker O'Connor finished his outing after 1.2 innings pitched, with five hits and four runs allowed.
 
Jared Middleton turned in his strongest outing of the year, pitching 3.1 innings of one-hit, scoreless relief to secure his second win of the season. Middleton allowed just three batters to reach base and erased the only hit he allowed with a double play two hitters later.
 
After Kiefer drew a leadoff walk in the top of the third, Harmon belted his first home run of the season over the right field fence to cut Embry-Riddle's lead to 4-3.
 
An inning later and with the score tied at 4-4, Harmon delivered the go-ahead RBI, singling to left-center to have Michael Savas cross the plate.
 
UWF never relinquished that lead and scored single runs in the fifth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings to provide insurance in the late stages.
 
Steve McClellan made his first appearance in 10 days and allowed just one run on two hits in two innings of work over the sixth and seventh innings.
 
Trevor Payne hit an RBI double off the fence in left to score Matt Sullivan in the sixth and Robert Lopez joined the RBI parade with a single scoring Nic Strasser in the seventh to set the score at 7-4.
 
In the eighth, Kiefer swiped home after ERAU catcher Luis Olivier attempted to throw out a running Harmon at second base. An inning later, Kiefer recorded his second RBI of the day with a sacrifice fly scoring Tanner Halstead.
 
JT Granat was credited with a save in his first-ever relief appearance as an Argonaut. The righty was able to mix his pitches effectively and keep Embry-Riddle hitters off balance and allowed only one hit while striking out three over his two innings of work.
 
"Middleton came in and did a fine job of bridging the gap. McClellan came in and hadn't pitched in a while and I thought he had a couple quality innings. We had a switch in roles with moving Granat into the backend of the bullpen, and he looked like a totally different guy from this past weekend," remarked Jeffcoat about his bullpen staff.
 
UWF and Embry-Riddle conclude the midweek two-game set tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. ET.