PENSACOLA, Fla. – The 21st-ranked UWF baseball team lost a pair of 1-run games to Embry-Riddle on Saturday at Jim Spooner Field. The Eagles won the first game 7-6 and the evening contest 3-2.
UWF dropped to 13-9 overall while ERAU improved to 12-12.
UWF had a combined 13 hits but also struck out eight times in the second game.
"Embry-Riddle came out with a lot of energy and did a nice job offensively, putting the bat on the ball and used the whole field," UWF head coach
Mike Jeffcoat said. "We lived in the air too much and had strikeouts. We just couldn't do much offensively in either game."
Cullen O'Shea and
Alden Davis both hit their team-leading third home runs in the first game and had multiple hits on the day.
Brady Browning,
Josh Prizina and
Dean Hotz also had two hits each.
The teams will play the final game of their series on Sunday at Noon.
GAME ONE – ERAU 7, UWF 6
He first game went back-and-forth over the first three innings, with each team scoring in all six half segments.
The Eagles grabbed an early 1-0 lead when
Zach Coldsnow tripled to drive in
Alex Britton. The Argos responded in the bottom of the inning when
Alden Davis hit a two-run homer to left center.
ERAU regained the lead with a pair of runs in the next inning on RBIs from
Nick Hoffman and Jeremy Kennedy-Davis. UWF tied it at 3-3 the game in the bottom of the second on a
Chris Johnson sacrifice fly.
The Eagles took the lead for good in the third on a 2-run single by Max Law.
In the bottom of the third, O'Shea knocked a solo shot off the scoreboard in right to pull back within one at 5-4.
ERAU pushed single runs across in the sixth and seventh inning for a 7-4 lead. The Argos battled back in the ninth, scoring two final runs on a Browning double and a Prizina ground out but were unable to extend the game.
Casey Keller (3-2) got the win in 3.2 innings of relief and Joe Balsam earned his fourth save, getting the final two outs for the Eagles.
Josh Pahlad (2-3) suffered the loss after allowing five runs – two unearned – in three innings. The Argos pitching staff walked 11 batters and ERAU ended up leaving 11 runners on base.
GAME TWO – ERAU 3, UWF 2
The second game was much more of a pitcher's duel, as the teams combined for just five runs on 15 hits and five walks.
The Eagles stuck first in the opening inning, getting three hits and a run off starter
Salvatore Ferro. He did a nice job working out of 2-runners on with no outs situation, striking out two batters and getting a flyout.
ERAU added to the lead in the third with a hard-hit single by Andrew Martinez.
But the Argonauts cracked the scoring column in their half of the third. Johnson doubled to left field, stole third and then came home when the ball got away from third baseman Ryan Carroll, making the score 2-1.
ERAU scored an insurance run in the seventh which proved to be vital because UWF mounted another final at-bat rally, scoring a run and putting the tying run on second before the Eagles got another save from Balsam to close the door.
Kelsey Ward (1-4) earned his first win of the year as he struck out seven and allowed just three hits in 5.2 innings. Ferro (3-1) took his first loss as an Argo, surrendering just two runs in three innings.
