NAIA logoThird-seeded Embry-Riddle scored three runs on a dropped fly ball in the bottom of the eighth inning and edged second-seeded Lee University 5-4 in the NAIA World Series in Monday's late game in Lewiston, Idaho.
Jeff Lemon got the only two hits for the Daytona Beach, Fla., team, but the Eagles (50-13) had walks off Alex Moore before and after Lemon's eighth-inning single to load the bases with one out. Jeremy Stawychny then came in to pitch and got two flyouts not deep enough to score a runner, and the Flames (50-11) would have escaped the jam unscathed but for Adam Cellini's fly that got away from right fielder Corey Davis.
Davis was the offensive hero for Lee by going 2-for-4 with two doubles. The first of those plated two runs in the fifth inning, breaking a 1-all tie, and he scored after his second two-bagger on Karsten Strieby's single in the eighth, making it 4-2.
Derrick Pitts also was 2-for-4 for Lee, and Brady Renner was 1-for-3 with a double and scored twice.
Lee starting pitcher Jose Samayoa pitched into the seventh inning with six strikeouts and only one earned run allowed, and Kyle Briner got two outs with one batter on a sacrifice fly.
Embry-Riddle will face top-seeded Faulkner from Lee's league in the late game tonight. The Flames will play the 6 p.m. EDT game against Missouri Baptist, which eliminated 2012 runner-up Rogers State 5-4 on Monday. Missouri Baptist is the team that rallied to beat 2012 NAIA champion Tennessee Wesleyan with two finals wins, the second in 19 innings, in the opening series Wesleyan hosted at Kingsport, Tenn.