FULLERTON, CALIF. – The Embry-Riddle baseball team wrapped up its four-game series with (16) Hope International on Saturday, dropping both games in a doubleheader. The Eagles nearly rallied in the ninth in game one, and the Royals scored all its runs in the first three innings in Game Two to keep ERAU at bay.

Game 1: (16) Hope International 8, Embry-Riddle 7

After a rough two games the day previous, the Eagles jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning thanks to a Roberto Garza-Nunez single. Ace Mitchell Mussler was perfect through the first three innings, but ran into some trouble in the fourth.

The Royals drew a walk to start the bottom of the fourth, and eventually brought three across. The damage could have been worse, but Garza-Nunez caught a bullet at third, then threw over to second to get an inning-ending double play.

ERAU scored runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh, grabbing a 5-3 lead heading into the seventh-inning stretch. The big play was Owen Cain's triple down the left field line to bring in two, and Cain finished the game a home run short of the cycle.

Hope International ramped up its offense in the bottom of the seventh, scoring twice to tie the game heading into the eight. The Royals then scored three more runs the next inning, putting the Eagles down to its last three outs.

Embry-Riddle did not go away without a fight, as Carson Ramocinski hit a leadoff single, then Travis Strickler followed that up with a home run to cut the deficit to one. While Garza-Nunez singled following the blast, ERAU was not able to get the tying run across.

While Cain did not complete the cycle, he did finish 4-for-4 on the day with the two RBI on the triple. Strickler, Garza-Nunez and Luke Jepsen also had two hits each.

Game 2: (16) Hope International 6, Embry-Riddle 1

The Eagles had a hard time getting the offense going in the second game, as they had just four hits and a run. Garza-Nunez drove in the lone run, a single in the top of the fourth to bring home Ramocinski.

The Royals scored all of its runs in the first three innings, doing the most damage in the first inning with three runs. Tanner Moran, Zack Bauer and Aiden Vestbie allowed just one hit over the final 3.2 innings out of the bullpen.

Embry-Riddle makes a return trip to Southern California next weekend for another four-game series against a ranked GSAC opponent. The Eagles will see 13^th-ranked Vanguard in Costa Mesa, with game one of the series scheduled for Friday, February 18.