Baseball Sweeps Niceville Regional, Advances to Final Four

Niceville, Fla - The #25 SCF baseball team (37-19) have officially punched their ticket to the final four of the NJCAA Region 8 State Baseball Tournament as they defeated #18 Northwest Florida State (32-17) 11-6 in the Niceville Regional.

"I'm really happy for the guys and proud of the effort they gave up here," said head coach Tim Hill II. "It's not an easy thing to do to sweep somebody up at their place where both games were a battle. I'm happy for the guys in our program to be back in the final four again. We're looking to keep getting better so we can make a run next weekend in Port Charlotte."

"I thought the team played great," said sophomore Luke Boykin. "The energy was through the roofs from the first pitch of the series to the last. We really wanted the win. Through all of it, it feels good but the job isn't finished. Winning this upcoming weekend will be better."

"Overall, I feel we played great this weekend," said freshman Austin Monahan. "The pitchers threw well and the hitters put up plenty of run support. All in all, it was a great experience to win the regional and go to the final four.

Hill II sent freshman Aidan Ray (4-2, 4.29 ERA) to the mound, while Northwest Florida State head coach Doug Martin went with freshman Thomas Conrad (7-3, 2.73 ERA) to counter.

The Manatees, who were the home team for game two of the regionals, would open on the board first in the bottom of the first. After freshman Mattie Counts reached on a fielding error and classmate Myles Davis hit an infield single, sophomore Boykin would once again show off his power as he sent a three-run homer to center for his 17th of the season and give SCF a 3-0 lead.

After the second inning went scoreless, the Manatees would increase their lead as Boykin began the bottom of the third with a leadoff solo home run to center for his 18th of the season and second of the game. Two batters later, sophomore Mario Trivella would reach second on fielding error before sophomore Hayden Gustavson chopped an infield single to the pitcher to bring in Trivella and advance to second on an error to make it 5-0 SCF.

At the top of the fourth, the Raiders would get their first run on the board as sophomore David Alvarez would send a solo home run to left for his ninth of the season, but the Manatees would respond back in the bottom half of the inning beginning with a leadoff single by freshman Will Rawls and Counts drawing a walk. After Boykin drew a walk to load the bases, freshman Holden Brauner would line a single towards the second baseman to bring in Rawls before Counts and Boykin scored on a fielding error to make it 8-1 SCF.

At the top of the fifth, the Raiders added to their run count as Alvarez would hit an RBI single. One inning later, Northwest Florida State would cut the lead to 8-6 as freshman Tristan Bittle would send a grand slam to left for his first collegiate home run of the season. After a run reached base on a fielding error, Hill II would pull Ray and send Monahan to the mound for a relief appearance where he was able to get out of the sixth.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Manatees would put the final runs on the board beginning with back-to-back walk drawn by Trivella and Gustavson before the Raiders made a pitching change. After the change, sophomore Connor O'Sullivan would bunt and reach base on a throwing error as Trivella and Gustavson scored. One batter later, Counts would bring in O'Sullivan with sacrifice fly to make it 11-6. From there, with a final pop out to Trivella, the Manatees would seal the win in the Niceville Regionals.

Ray would improve to 5-2 after giving up six runs on five hits with six walks and five strikeouts in five and two-thirds innings. Monahan would throw three and a third scoreless innings of relief with two strikeouts.

"I felt great on the mound," said Monahan. The biggest thing was I had confidence that no matter where the ball was hit, my guys behind me were making the play."

"Aidan (Ray) did some good things and gave us a chance to win and Austin (Monahan) was terrific retiring all 10 batters he faced," said Hill II on Ray and Monahan.

Conrad would fall to 7-5 after giving up eight runs (four earned) on six hits with three walks and two strikeouts in four innings. Sophomore Jackson Evers gave up two runs on one hit with two walks and two strikeouts in two innings of relief, while classmate Joe Wittig gave up one unearned run on two hits with two strikeouts in two innings of relief.

Four players had a multi-hit game for the Manatees. It was Boykin that would lead the way in hitting and offense as he went 2-for-4 with two home runs, three runs scored, four RBI and a walk.

"I coud feel the positive energy from my teammmates at the plate," said Boykin on his batting. "When you got your guys backing you up like that, it makes it easier to put the batt on the ball. I was just happy I could do what I could to help us win."

Davis would follow going 2-for-5 with one run scored, while Brauner went 2-for-5 with an RBI and Rawls rounded out the order going 2-for-4 with a run. Gustavson had the remaining hit as he went 1-for-3 with a run.

For the Raiders, Alvarez lead the way in hitting as he went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI, while Bittle lead the way offensively going 1-for-5 with a grand slam. Fielding-wise, the Raiders had seven errors in the game compared to the Manatees one.

Notes:

With his hits in the game, Davis extends his hitting streak to 17 games.

Other Regional Scores:

Central Florida (36-16) defeated #11 Indian River State (34-16) 12-1 in five innings to complete the Fort Pierce Regional.

#7 Florida Southwestern (40-14) defeated Pensacola State (27-20) 11-3 in seven innings in the Fort Myers Regional and force game three Sunday, May 4 at 1 pm.

#12 Gulf Coast State (34-14) defeated Miami Dade (31-22) 12-0 in seven innings in the Panama City Regional to force game three Sunday, May 4 at 2 pm (1 pm central).

Up Next:

The Manatees will await the winner between #7 Florida Southwestern and Pensacola State in the third game of the Fort Myers Regional.