ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eagles rallied late in both games as the Eckerd baseball team dropped a pair of tight SSC contests, 12-10 and 6-5, to Embry-Riddle in a Saturday afternoon twinbill at the Turley Athletic Complex.
ERAU jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the opening frame of the first game. EC got on the board in the following inning with a sacrifice fly by Gunner Womer.
The Eagles made it a 5-1 lead in the third with a two-run homerun. The Tritons responded to even the score with four runs in the third on a bases-loaded walk by Mikey Burke, sacrifice fly by Joe Wike, and a two-run double by Womer. EC took the lead, 6-5, in the following frame scoring off an error.
Embry-Riddle took the lead back in the seventh with six runs via a pair of RBI singles, fielder's choice, and three runs scoring on an error.
EC rallied for four runs over the next two innings on a Danny Gutcher two-run homerun, solo blast by Mitch Donofrio, and an RBI single by Womer to trail, 11-10. However, ERAU added an insurance run in the ninth as EC could not complete the comeback.
The Eagles took an early lead in the finale with an RBI single in the first inning, but Michael Ballard evened the score in the third with an RBI double.
A two-run double gave ERAU a 3-1 lead in the fourth, but Eckerd responded with an RBI single by Womer in the bottom of the frame to trail, 3-2.
The Tritons then took the lead in the sixth with three runs as two runs came across as Womer reached on an error followed by an RBI single by Gutcher.
EC kept the Eagles off the board over the next two innings, but they rallied to take the game in the ninth on an RBI single and a two-run triple.
HOW IT ENDED
Game One
Final: Embry-Riddle 12, Eckerd 10
WP: Barone (2-0) LP: Dunnam (1-2) S: Balsam (6) HR: Donofrio (5), Gutcher (2), Post (2)
Game Two
Final: Embry-Riddle 6, Eckerd 5
WP: Martin (1-1) LP: Sanderson (0-2) S: Balsam (7)
Records: Eckerd 12-15 (6-6 SSC); Embry-Riddle 14-14 (4-8 SSC)
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Five Tritons recorded multi-hit games in the opener: Dimerson Nunez (4), Tyler Cox (3), Danny Gutcher (3), and Mitch Donofrio (2).
- Womer collected four RBIs in the opener while Gutcher had two.
- Womer went 7-for-12 in the series with seven RBIs and five runs, while Gutcher went 7-for-13 with six RBIs and three runs.
- Eckerd hit .318 in the series as a team.
- Eckerd's 17 hits in the opener were their second-best mark of the season.
- Ballard extended his hitting streak to eight games with a pair of hits while Womer's reaches six games.
- Four Tritons have reached base streaks over 10 games: Jake Andriole (17), Wike (14), Ballard (14), and Gutcher (13),
- Brendan Lawry opened the finale, throwing 6.2 innings with a career-high eight strikeouts.
UP NEXT
Eckerd travels to Saint Leo on Tuesday for a midweek nonconference game at 6:00 PM.
