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State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota
Manatees Downs Daytona State
February 27, 2025

Manatees Downs Daytona State

Daytona Beach, Fla  - The SCF baseball team (13-7, 4-3 Citrus) got back up to above .500 in Citrus Conference play as they defeated Daytona State (3-15, 1-6 Citrus) 11-6 at the Daytona State College Baseball Complex in Daytona Beach.
 
"It always nice to win a conference game on the road," said head coach Tim Hill II. "Today was a dogfight throughout the whole game. I thought Aidan (Ray) really stepped up and did an outstanding job and it was good to see Frank (Villella) close the game in the ninth. We swung the bats well at times, but there's a lot of improvement that needs to take place. Looking forward to being on our home field Saturday as Lochlan (Radloff) and Oscar (Hernandez) will pitch those games and seeing good performances from them. "
 
"I thought we played well enough to win the game," said redshirt sophomore Connor O'Sullivan. "We have been working on driving in more runs as an offense and I thought we accomplished that today. The pitching staff kept us in the game and shut down Daytona State's rallies. There are some things we would like to clean up, but it's alway good to get a conference win, especially because these games are not easy but we got it done today."
 
"I thought we played ok today," said sophomore Walker Vanecek. "The game was a little more sloppier than what we're used to, but a win is a win. It feels good to be on the winning side of conference and we need to continue this momentum into this Saturday and the next series."
 
"Overall, we did really well," said freshman Aidan Ray. "We put the bat to the ball when we had to. We did leave a few runners stranded on base, but we're not going to be perfect every time. It still felt great being on the winning side of conference play. We just have to keep trying to get better as a team and that's what we did today. We had a great team win, everybody contributed and we took the 'W'."
 
Hill II sent sophomore Landon O'Donnell (0-1, 4.91 ERA) to start game one while Daytona State head coach Tim Touma went with sophomore Xavier Pelzer (0-3, 5.19) to counter.
 
After the first inning went scoreless, the Falcons would open on the board first in the bottom of the second thanks to RBI singles by Ian DeVos and Chase Wilson for a 3-0 lead before O'Donnell was able to get out of the inning.
 
At the top of the third, the Manatees would get their first runs on the board beginning with sophomores CJ Richard and Mario Trivella getting hit by a pitch before classmates Walker Vanecek and Allan Gil Fernandez sent back-to-back RBI singles to bring them in. After sophomore Hayden Gustavson loaded the bases with a bunt single, freshman Ben Ryan would send a sacrifice fly to right to bring in Vanecek before classmate Ryan Kaitz gave the Manatees a 4-3 lead after bringing in Gil Fernandez with a double to left before Touma brought in freshman Dylan Mullan to finish the third.
 
In the bottom of the fourth, after putting two runners on base, Hill II would pull O'Donnell and send freshman Aidan Ray to the mound before the Falcons tied the game off of a sacrifice fly by freshman Connor Guy, but two strikeouts from the Alaskan would help the Manatees end the fourth.
 
The top of the fifth saw the Manatees saw the Manatees regain the lead. After Vanecek (hit by a pitch), Gil Fernandez (walk) and Gustavson (single) loaded the bases, Ryan would send a single to left to bring in Vanecek before Kaitz hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Gil Fernandez. One batter later and a balk putting both runners in scoring position, O'Sullivan would come in to pinch hit and on a 2-2 count, he would hit a pop single past the shortstop to center to bring in Gustavson and Ryan for an 8-4 SCF lead.
 
The Falcons would bring in a run in the bottom of the seventh after a solo home run by sophomore Derek Lopez for his third of the season to make it 8-5 still in SCF's favor, but even with two runners on base, Ray was able to get another strikeout on the board to end the seventh.
 
At the top of the eighth, the Manatees would extend their lead as Vanecek would send a pop single to left to bring in Trivella for a 9-5 lead. One inning later, the Manatees would add their final runs on the board. After a leadoff pinch hit single by freshman Mattie Counts and a double by Sullivan, Counts would score on a wild pitch while Sullivan advanced to third. After Richard was hit by a pitch, Trivella would bring in Sullivan with an RBI groundout to make it 11-6 SCF before they sealed the victory.
 
O'Donnell would earn a no-decision after giving up four runs on three hits with four walks and three strikeouts. Ray would earn his first collegiate win after giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits with two walks and six strikeouts in five and two-thirds innings of relief, while sophomore Frank Villella threw a third of a scoreless inning of relief.
 
"I felt amazing on the mound," said Ray. "My fastball felt pretty firm and I felt I could place my slider where I wanted to. Overall, I just felt very whippy out there."
 
Pelzer would fall to 0-4 after giving up four runs on six hits with two walks and two strikeouts in two and a third innings.
 
Four Manatees had a multi-hit game. It was Vanecek that lead the way as he finished 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs.
 
"I felt good," said Vanecek. "I kept my approach simple while trying to find barrels and put the ball in play."
 
O'Sullivan (2-for-3), Ryan (2-for-4) and Gustavson (2-for-4) would round out the order with two hits each. O'Sullivan and Ryan added two RBI and one run each, while Gustavson added one run, one walk and one stolen base.
 
"It was a nice contribute to the offensive performance today," said O'Sullivan. "I think all of us are hoping that today propels us to continue to have productive at-bats."
 
 
Richard (1-for-4, one run), Gil Fernandez (1-for-2, two runs, one RBI and two walks), Kaitz (1-for-2, two RBI and one walk) and Counts (1-for-1, one run) had the remaining four hits.
 
For the Falcons, DeVos, Lopez and Guy each had two hits, while Wilson lead the offense after going 1-for-4 with two RBI.
 
Other Citrus Conference Scores:
Seminole State College of Florida 10, Eastern Florida State 0
 
Hillsborough 5, #2 Florida Southwestern 1
 
#15 Indian River State 14, Santa Fe 6
 
Polk State 8, Miami Dade 3
 
Citrus Conference Standings:
1. #2 Florida Southwestern (15-4-1, 5-2)
2. Seminole State College of Florida (14-6, 5-2)
3. Polk State (13-10, 5-2)
4. #15 Indian River State (13-6, 4-3)
5. SCF (13-7, 4-3)
6. Santa Fe (11-10, 4-3)
7. Hillsborough (9-9, 4-3)
8. #9 Central Florida (14-4, 3-3)
9. Eastern Florida State (12-8, 3-4)
10. Miami Dade (8-11, 2-5)
11. St. Petersburg (3-13-1, 1-5)
12. Daytona State (3-15, 1-6)
 
Up Next:
The Manatees return home to Robert C. Wynn Field to go for the series sweep against Daytona State.
Box Score