Baseball Finalizes Sweep Over Daytona State

Bradenton, Fla. - The SCF baseball team (15-7, 6-3 Citrus) pulled off their first sweep in Citrus Conference play as they shutout Daytona State (3-17, 1-8 Citrus) 6-0 and 8-0 (8) at Wynn Field.

"I thought the guys played wit a lot of energy and focus, which was good to see," said head coach Tim Hill II. "Lochlan (Radloff) and Oscar (Hernandez) were the stories of today. They both threw extremely well and obviously when you throw two shutouts, it gives you a great chance to win both game. They both threw tons of strikes and our offense played well. It was also nice to see better hitting with two outs in the second game."

Game One:

For game one, Hill II sent freshman Lochlan Radloff (2-1, 4.07 ERA) to start game one, while Daytona State head coach Tim Touma went with sophomore Peyton Underwood (0-2, 6.75 ERA) to counter.

The Manatees would jump on the board in the bottom of the first as sophomore Allan Gil Fernandez would bring in classmate CJ Richard with a single past the shortstop for a 1-0 lead. Meanwhile, Radloff would continue to pound the zone with six strikeouts in the first two innings before the offense made it 2-0 SCF after freshman Mattie Counts drove in sophomore Hayden Gustavson with a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the second. Gustavson would then make it 3-0 in the bottom of third as he hit a single to center to bring in Gil Fernandez.

After Radloff put zeros on the board for the next three innings, the Manatees would put their final runs on the board in the bottom of the sixth. After Gil Fernandez (walk), Gustavson (walk) and freshman Holden Brauner (single) loaded the bases with two outs, sophomore Mario Trivella would ground a single to right and bring in Gil Fernandez and Brauner. After redshirt sophomore Connor O'Sullivan drew a walk to reload the bases, freshman Clayton Evans would get hit by a pitch and bring in Gustavson for a 6-0 SCF lead before the sixth ended. From there, Radloff would have no problem in the seventh as he got the final three outs to seal the series.

Radloff would improve to 3-1 after throwing one-hit seven inning shutout with one walk and a season-high 11 strikeouts.

Underwood would fall to 0-2 after giving up three runs on five hits with four walks and two strikeouts in two innings.

Three Manatees had a multi-hit game: Counts (2-for-3), Gil Fernandez (2-for-3) and Brauner (2-for-4). Counts added one RBI and one walk, while Gil Fernandez added one RBI, two runs and one walk and Brauner added one run. Trivella would lead in RBI as he went 1-for-4 with two RBI.

Gustavson (1-for-1, two runs, one RBI and three walks) and sophomore Walker Vanecek (1-for-4) had the remaining two hits.

Freshman Connor Guy would have the lone hit for the Falcons as he finished 1-for-2 at the plate

Game Two:

Looking to go for the series sweep, Hill II sent sophomore Oscar Hernandez (3-2, 2.49 ERA) to the mound to start game two, while Touma went with redshirt freshman Blake Van Horn (0-2, 6.64 ERA) to counter.

After the first inning went scoreless, the Manatees would put their first run on the board in the bottom of the second as sophomore Luke Boykin would pop a single to center to bring in freshman Ben Ryan for a 1-0 SCF lead.

After Hernandez escaped a jam with two runners on base at the top of the third, the Manatees would extend their lead in the bottom half of the inning as Ryan would send a double to left to bring in Gil Fernandez and Vanecek for a 3-0 SCF lead. One inning later, they would increase it to 5-0 as Trivella would bring in freshman Ryan Kaitz and sophomore Luke Boykin with a single to center before Ryan scored on a Falcon fielding error in the bottom of the fifth to make it 6-0.

The Manatees would make it 7-0 in the bottom of the sixth as Gustavson would send a single to left to bring in Gil Fernandez. After the seventh inning went scoreless, the Manatees would bring in the final run as Kaitz would bring Gustavson in with a single to center to invoke the mercy rule and seal the victory for afull sweep.

Hernandez would improve to 4-2 after throwing six scoreless inning with five hits and six strikeouts. Sophomore Duke McCarron threw one scoreless inning of relief with two strikeouts, while freshman Austin Monahan threw one scoreless inning of relief with one strikeout.

Van Horn would fall to 0-3 after giving up five runs (three earned) on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts in three and two-thirds innings.

Four Manatees had two hits in the game: Gil Fernandez (2-for-4), Ryan (2-for-3), Gustavson (2-for-5) and Kaitz (2-for-5). Gil Fernandez added two runs, one stolen base and a walk, while Ryan added two RBI, two runs and two walks, Gustavson added one run and one RBI and Kaitz added one run and one RBI. 

Trivella (1-for-4, two RBI and one stolen base and Boykin (1-for-2, one run, one RBI and two stolen bases) had the remaining two hits.

Other Citrus Conference Scores:

#9 Central Florida (17-4, 6-3 Citrus) swept St. Pete (3-16-1, 1-8 Citrus) 7-0 (forfeit) and 8-4 to win the series.

#15 Indian River State (15-6, 6-3 Citrus) swept Santa Fe (11-12, 4-5 Citrus) 14-3 and 12-11.

Hillsborough (10-10, 5-4 Citrus) split with #2 Florida Southwestern (16-5-1, 6-3 Citrus) losing game one 10-0 before winning game two 8-7 to take the series 2-1.

Polk State (14-11, 6-3 Citrus) split with Miami Dade (9-12, 3-6 Citrus) losing game one 4-3 before winning game two 10-4 to take the overall series.

Eastern Florida State (14-8, 5-4 Citrus) swept Seminole State College of Florida (14-8, 5-4 Citrus) 12-7 and 12-4 to take the series.

Citrus Conference Standings:

1. #9 Central Florida (17-4, 6-3)

2. #2 Florida Southwestern (16-5-1, 6-3)

3. #15 Indian River State (15-6, 6-3)

4. SCF (15-7, 6-3)

5. Polk State (14-11, 6-3)

6. Eastern Florida State (14-8, 5-4)

7. Seminole State College of Florida (14-8, 5-4)

8. Hillsborough (10-10, 5-4)

9. Santa Fe (11-12, 4-5)

10. Miami Dade (9-12, 3-6)

11. St. Pete (3-16-1, 1-8)

12. Daytona State (3-16, 1-8)

Up Next:

The Manatees will take on St. Pete College at Jack Russell Stadium in Clearwater Monday night, March 3 at 6 pm in a non-conference matchup. Sophomore Gavyn Bowen will be given the nod to open the game.