The Florida Tech Panthers (28-16, 11-13 SSC) suffered a series loss on Saturday, dropping the final game of a three-game series by the score of 9-5 to Embry-Riddle (20-19, 8-13 SSC) in Daytona.

The Panthers held a 12-10 with Dylan Dohanos (3-for-5), Dylan Owens 3-for-5), and Alec Eldridge (3-for-5) combining for nine of them. Josh Reynolds was the only Eagle in the lineup with a multi-hit day.

Kelsey Ward was the starting pitcher for the Eagles and the Panthers jumped on him early. Dohanos led off with a single and eventually scored on a Brett Parrish groundout. Owens and Eldridge followed with back-to-back RBI doubles to give Florida Tech a 3-0 lead.

Samuel Orozco got the starting nod for the Panthers and got through the first inning but ran into trouble in the bottom of the second. Daniel Trillo’s two-run double cut the Panthers’ lead to one and put an end to Orozco’s day. Noah Steckley was called on out of the bullpen and a sacrifice bunt by Kevin Vittoria brought two runs home and gave the Eagles a 4-3 lead.

The home team put the game away in the bottom of the third, scoring five times. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases before a walk to Josh Reynolds forced in a run. Jason Engler was then called on to replace Steckley. Things continued to go downhill.  Garrett Bogart singled home a run before another bases-loaded walk made it 7-3. Trillo’s sac fly added another run and Vittoria singled in another run to extend the Eagles’ lead to 9-3.

The Panthers got a run back in the top of the fourth when Jack Nagy tripled with one out and came home on a Sam Schner single later in the inning. 

The score stayed that way until the seventh inning when Jakob Newton was hit by a pitch with one out and eventually scored on a single by Owens, shrinking the ERAU lead to 9-5 and closing out the scoring.

For more info: Florida Tech @ ERAU Box Score

The Panthers’ road trip continues on Friday, April 22 when they head to Winter Park to take on nationally-ranked Rollins. The first pitch is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.