Baseball Tops St. Pete

Baseball Tops St. Pete
March 10, 2025

Bradenton, Fla - Despite the game being a high-scoring game, the SCF baseball team (18-9, 7-5 Citrus) were able to secure the win at Wynn Field in a non-conference game against a conference opponent as they defeated St. Pete College (3-22, 1-11 Citrus) 11-10.

 
"While it was nice to get a win on our home field, we played very poorly tonight in all areas," said head coach Tim Hill II. "Pitching was not very good and our defense made three careless throwing errors. We have to learn to throw and catch a lot better while throwing more strikes and handling the baseball on defense."
 
"The game was a hitter's duel," said freshman Ben Ryan. We hit the ball very well when we needed to."
 
"I was not fully pleasesd with the overall performance," said freshman Bernard Barnes. "I thought we could have played a lot better than we did today. We were sloppy and made it a way closer game that it should have been, but we are going to bounce back and keep the winning momentum for Miami."
 
Hill II sent sophomore Duke McCarron (1-0, 6.35 ERA) to the mound while St. Pete head coach Oscar Espada went with sophomore Christian Del Campo (0-1, 10.29 ERA) to counter.
 
The Manatees would open on the board first in the bottom of the first as freshman Holden Brauner would tower a two-out solo blast to right for his third of the season and his second straight home run in a game.
 
After a scoreless second, the Titans would take score three at the top of the third to make it a 3-1 game however, the Manatees would respond in the bottom half of the inning. After freshmen Will Rawls (leadoff double) and Mattie Counts (walk) and sophomore Allan Gil Fernandez (hit by a pitch) loaded the bases, Brauner would then get hit by a pitch and bring in Rawls to cut the lead to 3-2 and reload the bases for Ryan. On a 1-2 count, the Pennsylvanian would send a triple to right and clear the bases with a triple to bring in Counts, Gil Fernandez and Brauner to give the Manatees a 5-3 lead. Barnes would then send a single to left to bring in Ryan to make it 6-3 SCF.
 
By the top of the fifth, St. Pete would retake the lead and make it 8-6, but SCF would respond again in the bottom half of the inning. After Ryan hit a two-out double, Barnes would send a single to right and bring in Ryan while advancing to second on the throw before sophomore Luke Boykin would show his power as he towered a two-run homer to left for his fourth of the season for an 9-8 lead. One inning later, the Manatees would make it 10-8 after Rawls scored on a passed ball.
 
At the top of the seventh, St. Pete would tie the game at 10 a piece after an RBI single and an RBI groundout, but the Manatees would retake the lead after Counts would send a double to left-center to bring in Boykin for an 11-10 lead before they sealed the victory.
 
McCarron and Del Campo would each earn a no-decision. McCarron would throw two scoreless innings with three walks and two strikeouts, while Del Campo gave up one run on one hit with one walk and two strikeouts in two innings.
 
Sophomore Daniel Hartley would earn the win and improve to 2-1 after throwing two-thirds of a scoreless inning of relief. Freshman Austin Monahan would earn the save after throwing two scoreless innings of relief with four strikeouts.
 
Sophomore Andres Bermudez would earn the loss after giving up one run on one hit with one strikeout in one and a third innings of relief.
 
Ryan would lead the way offensively as he went 2-for-4 with three RBI, two runs and one walk.
 
"I feel like I performed pretty well," said Ryan on his game. I thought I did a good job executing in the situations hitting wise."
 
Barnes rounded out the order going 2-for-5 with two RBI and one run, while Brauner (1-for-3) and Boykin (1-for-3) each had a home run and two RBI with Brauner added one run and one walk and Boykin added two runs.
 
"I felt really comfortable at the plate today," said Barnes. "I did have a couple of bad at-bats where I missed my pitch early in the count and ended up striking out, but that's where I can learn from it so I can find a way 
 
Counts (1-for-4, one run, one RBI and one walk), Rawls (1-for-2, two runs) and freshman Ryan Kaitz (1-for-3, one walk and one stolen base) had the remaining two hits.
 
Citrus Conference Standings:
1. RV Polk State (17-11, 9-3)
2. #6  Florida Southwestern (20-6, 8-4)
3. #10 Indian River State (17-7, 8-4)
4. #17 College of Central Florida (19-6, 7-5)
5. SCF (18-9, 7-5)
6. Seminole State College of Florida (17-9, 7-5)
7. Eastern Florida State (16-10, 6-6)
8. Santa Fe (12-14, 5-7)
9. Hillsborough (11-13, 5-7)
10. Miami Dade (11-13, 5-7) 
11. Daytona State (6-17, 4-8)
12. St. Pete (3-22, 1-11)
 
Up Next:
The Manatees will return to conference play as they face Miami Dade (11-13, 5-7 Citrus) for their next series. Game one will take place at Wynn Field Thursday night, March 13 at 5 pm, while games two and three will take place at the Kendall Campus Baseball Field in Miami Saturday afternoon, March 15 at 1 and 4 pm.