Baseball Takes Win Over SPC; Secures Playoff Spot

Bradenton, Fla - The SCF baseball team (33-19, 18-13 Citrus) pulled off a second walk-off win as they defeated St. Pete (9-37, 6-25 Citrus) 12-2 in six innings via the mercy rule. As a result of their win and Miami Dade defeating Eastern Florida State, the Manatees clinched an automatic spot in the NJCAA Region 8 State Baseball Tournament.

"It was a nice win for sure and that win also clinched a state tournament spot for us so that was big," said head coach Tim Hill II. "After a rough start, Aidan pitched pretty well and anytime you run rule somebody, the bats must have done some good things. Just about everybody contributed. We're looking to close out the season on a positive note on Saturday to get some momentum headed to the playoffs next week."

"Overall, I felt the team did great," said freshman Mattie Counts. "We attacked early and didn't let off the gas from start to finish. Aidan (Ray) gave us a great effort on the mound limiting their offense, working out of jams and gave us a chance to run up the score. Our goal when we face St. Pete on Saturday is to relentlessly attack, quickly jump on their pitching and trust our pitchers to throw strikes while controlling the game and playing clean defense to help our pitchers stay efficient."

"I thought the team did great," said freshman Clayton Evans. "We played hard and stayed focused the entire game. For Saturday, we just need to stay locked in, play our game and finish strong."

Hill II sent freshman Aidan Ray (3-2, 4.42 ERA) to the mound, while St. Pete head coach Oscar Espada went with sophomore Andres Bermudez (1-2, 9.11 ERA) to counter.

The Titans would end up on the board first at the top of the first after an RBI triple by sophomore Jose Rangel and an RBI single by freshman Drew Pynes made it 2-0 St. Pete. The Manatees would respond in the bottom half of the inning beginning with a one-out walk by freshman Myles Davis, sophomore Allan Gil Fernandez being hit by a pitch and freshman Ben Ryan drawing a walk to load the bases, sophomore Mario Trivella would get hit by a pitch and bring in Davis and reload the bases for freshman Mattie Counts. On a 3-1 count, the transfer from the University of South Florida would clear the bases with a double to make it 4-2 SCF. One inning later, the Manatees would extend the lead to 5-2 after an RBI single by sophomore Luke Boykin drove in freshman Holden Brauner.

In the bottom of the third, the Manatees would continue adding to their lead. After a two-out single by sophomore Connor O'Sullivan and a walk by freshman Clayton Evans, Brauner would send a single to center and bring in O'Sullivan before Davis brought in Evans with a single to left to make it 7-2 SCF. One inning later, Counts would bring in Boykin with an infield single to make it 8-2 SCF.

The Titans would try to score a run at the top of the fifth off of a single by freshman Lenin Nunez, but a strong throw by Brauner would tag out sophomore Mel Rubiera at home and prevent the Titans from scoring.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Manatees would bump their run total to double digits beginning with leadoff double by Evans before moving to third on a fly out. Davis would then send a single to left to bring Evans. After Gil Fernandez reached on a fielding error, Boykin would send a double to center and bring in Davis to make 10-2 SCF. One inning later with O'Sullivan hitting a pop single to center, Evans would seal the victory for the Manatees as he hit a two-run home run to left for his third of the season and walk off the game.

"It felt amazing," said Evans on the walk-off home run. "I just wanted to help the team and I'm glad I came through."

Ray would improve to 4-2 after throwing a six-inning complete game, giving up two runs on seven hits with one walk and five strikeouts.

Bermudez would fall to 1-3 after giving up five runs on three hits with two walks and one strikeout in two innings. Freshman Logan Zavala gave up five runs (four earned) on seven hits with two walks and one strikeout in two and a third innings of relief, while sophomore Gabriel Vargas gave up two runs on two hits in one inning of relief.

Six Manatees had a multi-hit game. It was Counts that would lead the way offensively as he went 2-for-4 with four RBI.

"I felt good at the plate tonight," said Counts. "I'm definitely happy to see myself getting back on track with hard contact when my team needs it, especially in the later stages of the season when we're looking to make a playoff run."

Evans (2-for-3) and Davis (2-for-3) would follow with two hits and two RBI each. Evans added three runs, one walk and one stolen base, while Davis added two runs and one walk.

Brauner (2-for-4) and O'Sullivan (2-for-4) rounded out the order with two hits each as well. Brauner added one run, one RBI and one stolen base, while O'Sullivan added two runs and one stolen base.

Nunez would be the leader in hitting for the Titans as he went 2-for-3 with a run at the plate, while Rangel (1-for-3) and Pynes (1-for-3) each drove in a run.

Other Citrus Conference Scores:

Seminole State College of Florida (28-21, 16-15 Citrus) 7, Daytona State (13-29, 11-20 Citrus) 1

Hillsborough (19-29, 11-20 Citrus) 11, Santa Fe (23-25, 14-17 Citrus) 3

#21 Central Florida (34-14, 19-12 Citrus) 9, #7 Indian River State (32-14, 22-9 Citrus) 5

#11 Florida Southwestern (37-13, 22-9 Citrus) 7, Polk State (27-26, 14-17 Citrus) 4

Miami Dade (28-21, 16-15 Citrus) 5, Eastern Florida State (29-19, 17-14 Citrus) 3

Citrus Conference Standings:

1. #11 Florida Southwestern (37-13, 22-9) *

2. #7 Indian River State (32-14, 22-9) *

3. #21 Central Florida (34-14, 19-12) *

4. SCF (33-19, 18-13) *

5. Eastern Florida State (29-19, 17-14)

6. Miami Dade (28-21, 16-15)

7. Seminole State College of Florida (28-21, 16-15)

8. Polk State (27-26, 14-17)

9. Santa Fe (23-25, 14-17)

10. Hillsborough (19-29, 11-20)

11. Daytona State (13-29, 11-20)

12. St. Pete (9-37, 6-25)

Up Next:

The Manatees will look to go for the sweep over St. Pete as they play them in a doubleheader at Jack Russell Memorial Stadium Saturday afternoon, April 26 at 1 and 4 pm.