SAINT LEO, Fla. – The UWF baseball team fell to Embry-Riddle, 16-10, in the championship game of the 2024 NCAA Division II South Regional at Thomas B. Southard Stadium on Sunday.
UWF ended the season with a 35-23 record and reached the NCAA Tournament for the tenth time overall, and the fourth time in the last six full seasons of play.
"It just wasn't our day," UWF head coach
Mike Jeffcoat said. "Give Embry-Riddle credit.
"But I couldn't be more proud of this team. They could have been counted out after a rough April and losing four straight series down the stretch. As a seven seed they ran the table (in the GSC Championship) and won the if necessary (game against Delta State) and showed the toughness to get us here.
"We were playing with house money but we really felt like we had a team that could win this thing and I think they showed that in this tournament."
On Sunday, the Argonauts finished with 10 runs on 13 hits and left 10 runners on base. Five different players had two hits apiece for UWF, with
Darrien McDowell and
Preston Moore going deep for solo home runs as part of their 2-hit days.
ERAU scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning for an early lead.
UWF responded with six runs on five hits in the second for a 6-4 lead.
Zack Stokes singled to start a string of 5-consecutive batters reaching with RBIs from
Trent Jeffcoat,
Jadon Fryman,
Cade Easterbrook and
Jackson Grabsky.
The Eagles matched the Argos with six runs in their half of the second, pushing the score to 10-6.
UWF made it a 10-8 contest with single runs in the fourth and fifth when McDowell and Moore hit their solo bombs.
The teams traded one-run frames before the Eagles got their largest lead of the game at 16-9 with four in the sixth and one in the seventh.
Dillon Moran (9-3) earned the win for ERAU, throwing four innings of relief while allowing three runs on five hits.
Major Posey (1-3) took the loss for UWF after lasting 1.1 innings.
McDowell ended the day with two hits, breaking the UWF single-season hits record with 95 while extending his record home run total to 27 for the season and 41 in his Argo career.
"I don't think you can say enough about him," Jeffcoat said. "I don't think I will have another player come through the program like he has with the numbers he's put up. He's really stepped up and represented our program. We hope he finishes with the accolades he deserves and gets a shot with the Major League Draft."
