BOX SCORE
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The University of West Florida baseball team completed a midweek nonconference sweep of Embry-Riddle after defeating the Eagles 12-6 on Wednesday afternoon.
"We had some good grinding at bats and we were able to get deep into their bullpen," stated head coach
Mike Jeffcoat. "We were able to tack on runs when we needed to today."
West Florida made the most of Embry-Riddle's mistakes with the Eagles surrendering five wild pitches, four errors, seven walks and four hit by pitches.
Nick Kerkmann's RBI single in the second inning got the scoring started for UWF (13-10), but ERAU (9-15) was quick to take a 2-1 lead with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the frame.
The Argos set a new season-high with seven runs scored in the third inning. Three Embry-Riddle errors helped the Argos cause and prolonged an inning that featured RBIs from
Matt Sullivan,
Nic Strasser,
Ladeavon Matthews,
Robert Lopez and
Chase Kiefer. Kiefer's 2-RBI single capped the third-inning outburst and provided UWF with an 8-2 lead.
Jackson Smith improved to 4-1 on the year with five quality innings, allowing seven hits and two runs while striking out five.
UWF added a couple of runs in the fifth with the help of a pair of ERAU wild pitches. In the sixth, Kiefer walked with the bases loaded to bring home Lopez and
Michael Savas posted a sacrifice fly to score Kerkmann to make it 12-2.
Brian Browning continued his late-inning dominance, hurling two hitless innings of relief in the sixth and seventh. Browning has allowed just one hit over his last 13 innings pitched and owns a 0.69 ERA since moving to the bullpen.
"He's (Browning) really embraced the role since he's become a reliever," said Jeffcoat. "He's taken a bulldog attitude knowing that he only needs a burst of a couple innings to give us what we need. It's looking like we're starting to put together our bullpen nicely and now we just have to get our starting rotation right."
Embry-Riddle hit a solo home run in the eighth and a three-run shot in the ninth to bring the score to its final 12-6.
Kerkmann, Sullivan and Matthews each recorded two hits to lead the lineup. Kiefer drove in a team-high three runs, while Sullivan, Lopez and Kerkmann were tied for the team lead with two runs scored each.
"It was good to get a series sweep and continue this momentum on the road. We're still looking to improve in some areas but we're looking to take this momentum into West Georgia next weekend," Jeffcoat said.
UWF and West Georgia will begin its three-game series on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. ET in Carrolton, Georgia.
To stay updated on all things UWF baseball, follow the team on Twitter @UWF_Baseball.
