The University of Minnesota Duluth baseball team entered day three of their schedule in the RussMatt Central Florida Invite, falling short 8-7 to the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Eagles in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Final Score: UMD (7) - ERAU (8)

Embry-Riddle opened up the afternoon with the first six runs of the game. A solo home run from Alex Imposimato would lead off a four run second inning, a scoring effort that would be continued in the bottom of the fourth with a two run home run from AJ Marinello.

The Bulldogs got to work breaking down the deficit in the top of the fifth, starting a with a single down the left field line from Troy Lynch that would score Gabe Richardson from second base.

UMD continued their momentum in the next inning, getting runners in scoring position with Garrett Stauffacher and Joey Flom reaching on back to back walks. Sam Kliber would log his RBI for the day on his next at bat, scoring Stauffacher from second base and cutting the deficit to four.

Richardson went on to reach base again, drawing a walk of his own to load the bases for the Bulldogs. With Lynch back up to the plate, he would launch a bases clearing double out to left to get UMD within one before the end of the inning.

ERAU put some distance back within the two teams in the bottom of the sixth with Max Kops collecting the Eagles' third home run of the afternoon and Imposimato scoring two with an RBI single.

Kliber and Richardson both reached base to leadoff the top of the eighth, giving Lynch the opportunity to collect his third RBI of the afternoon on a single back to the mound that was fumbled by the ERAU pitcher.

A leadoff walk in the ninth inning for Stauffacher saw him advance around to third on a steal and subsequent flyout from Flom. With another runner in scoring position, Michael Gabbard entered the game as a pinch hitter and took advantage as he reached first on another throwing error by the Eagles to put the Bulldogs back within one.

However, the Bulldogs would be unable to fully close the gap within their final two outs and fall in the game 8-7.

Looking Ahead

Bulldog baseball (7-4, 6-2 NSIC) look towards back to back doubleheaders against the Wayne State University Warriors in the RussMatt Invite starting tomorrow. First pitch against the Warriors is currently set for 4:00 PM CST.