"Anytime you get a conference win, it's a great day" said head coach Tim Hill II. "It was nice playing in their stadium, which I know some of the guys were excited about that because it doesn't get to happen that often."

 

"We had a great team day today," said freshman Ed Wagner. "We had 16 runs to their (HCC) two and that worked out nicely for us. Everything was clicking today and was pretty smooth sailing."

 

"I thought we played great today," said freshman Erick Almonte. "The bats were going today and we played great defense. While the first two innings were shaky, we woke up and adjusted to it and just played ball."

 

Hill sent Clarke to the mound to start the game, while HCC head coach Raydon Leaton went with sophomore Quinn Prosser.

 

At the top of the first, the Manatees would get the first run on the board as sophomore Lucas Ismaili would bring in Almonte with a single. The Hawks would respond back in the bottom half of the inning as they shook Clarke with four walks and an RBI groundout by freshman Clark Springs. This would signal the end for Clarke as Hill would send Wagner to finish the first for him. Freshman Trey Santana would give the Hawks a 2-1 lead with a bases loaded walk before Wagner finished the first.

 

At the top of the second, the Manatees would tie the game as Almonte would bring in sophomore Liam. Moreno. One inning later, the Manatees would regain the lead. After Ismaili (single) and sophomores Mario Lopez, Jr. (walk) and Brayden Woodburn (walk) loaded the bases, classmate Victor Sanchez would hit into a double play while Ismaili scored and Lopez advanced to third. Sophomore Austin Dearing would then hit a single and bring in Lopez. After another two-out single off the bat of Moreno, Morales would line a double and bring in Dearing and Moreno to make it 6-2 SCF.

 

At the top of the fifth, Dearing would show some speed as he hit a triple to bring in Sanchez for a 7-2 SCF lead. One inning later, Ismaili would make it 8-2 after an RBI groundout to bring in Almonte.

 

At the top of the seventh, the Manatees would reach double digit runs. After Woodburn (single), Sanchez (single) and Moreno (walk) loaded the bases, Morales would hit into a fielder's choice to bring in Woodburn. Almonte would then hit a single and bring in Sanchez and Moreno before Karstetter brought in Morales and Almonte with a double to make it 13-2.

 

At the top of the seventh, the Manatees would add their final runs on the board. After a Woodburn walk and a Sanchez double, Dearing would reach first on a fielding error to bring in Woodburn before Moreno hit into a double play. After Morales drew a walk and Almonte hit a double, both would take advantage of two wild pitches to make it 16-2 SCF. From there, Moreno would end the game as he made a leaping catch in left to seal the deal.

 

Clarke would earn a no-decision after giving up one run with no hits and four walks in one-third of an inning. Despite that, the upcoming Liberty University transfer was happy to make his debut.

 

"I struggled a little bit, but it was nice getting back out there after a long time since October," said Clarke. "I just had fun and look to build off of that for my next outing. Even during the struggle, it was awesome to make my spring debut and got the nervous energy out of me."

 

"I was super proud of him," said Wagner on Clarke's debut. "He's been through some injuries this season and seeing back to pitching is awesome."

 

"I was emotional seeing him on the mound for the first time," said Almonte on Clarke. "I made sure to tell him to just relax. It's great to have him back."

 

"Even though Brandon didn't get the result he wanted it doesn't matter," said Hill on Clarke's debut. "He got his chance to start throwing again and to give him that experience was amazing."

 

Wagner would get the win after throwing six and two-third scoreless innings of relief, giving up five hits with three walks and three strikeouts. He is now 6-1 on the year.

 

"I felt good on the mound today," said Wagner. "Defense was eating it up and we scored a ton of runs which was the big factor for us."

 

Prosser would fall to 0-5 after giving up six runs on nine hits with three walks and six strikeouts in three innings.

 

Eight Manatees had at least one hit with seven getting at least two and four getting three or more hits. Almonte would be overall offensive and hitting leader as he finished 5-for-5 with two doubles, three RBI, three runs and a walk.

 

"Honestly, it was the first time in my life that I had a 5-for-5 hit game," said Almonte. "It was a special one for me, but I was just trying to work with Javi (Miranda) to help me with my hitting and getting my foot to go down earlier, so everything kept rolling along."

 

"Erick swung the bat really well," said Hill on Almonte.

 

Ismaili, Sanchez and Dearing would follow as they each had three hits. Ismaili (3-for-5) added two RBI and a run, while Sanchez (3-for-5) added three runs.

 

Morales, Karstetter, Dearing and Moreno each had two hits. Morales (2-for-5) added three RBI, two runs and a walk, while Karstteter (2-for-4) added two RBI and a stolen base, Dearing (2-for-5) added three RBI and one run and Moreno (2-for-4) added three runs.

 

Woodburn (1-for-3, two runs and two walks) had the remaining hit, while Lopez (one run and one walk) also contributed.

 

For the Hawks, sophomores Johnathan Bruno and Jayson Yaccarino, Santana and freshmen Christian Cabina and Cayden Box each had one hit.

 

Notes:

With his two walks, Woodburn has 42 this season and 82 in his career, while Almonte's one walk puts him at 36 this season. Both are respectively 18 and 24 walks away from surpassing Jody Reed (59, 1982) for the single season record. Additionally, Woodburn is 28 away from breaking Joey Collis' career walks record (109, 1994-95).

 

With his two hits (one double) and two RBI, Karstetter now has 214 hits, 55 career doubles and 154 RBI. He is seven doubles away from breaking the single season doubles record held by Paul Stryhas (33, 1997).

 

Other Suncoast Scores:

Polk State (30-17, 12-6 Suncoast) defeated St. Pete (15-26, 6-12 Suncoast) 7-6 on Saturday.