Strong opening game earns a weekend split with South Florida State

Florida State College at Jacksonville baseball hosted South Florida State College for a Sun-Lakes Conference matchup this weekend. The two teams split the first two games, and game three was washed out due to inclement weather in the Jacksonville area. That game will not be made up this weekend.

FSCJ 11, South Florida State 1 (6 innings)

FSCJ came out in game one and put together their first conference run-rule victory of the spring, defeating SFSC 11-1 in 6 innings. Big innings for the BlueWave, powered by 3 runs in the 2^nd inning and 6 in the 3^rd inning, put the game out of reach for the Panthers.

The 2^nd inning runs came via a Pedro Morales RBI single, Mac Wilkins RBI single, and Matt Retamoza sacrifice fly to make it 3-0. South Florida answered with a single run in the 3^rd on a solo home run to cut the lead to 3-1, but FSCJ responded with 6 runs in the 3^rd, using a Brooks Hicken sacrifice fly, Morales RBI double, Wilkins RBI single, Alex Monile RBI single, and a Carson Womer RBI single to add to its lead. A run in the 5^th on another Womer RBI single set the stage for a Retamoza walk-off RBI double in the 6^th to give FSCJ the 11-1 win.

Womer, Hicken, Morales, Wilkins, Retamoza, and Sean Esquinaldo all had multi-hit games. Brady Ellison (4-3) earned the win on the mound for FSCJ as the starting pitcher, throwing 5 innings, allowing 1 run on 2 hits, waling 2 and striking out 4. Ethan Carroll threw a shutout inning in relief, with 1 hit and 1 strikeout.

South Florida State 9, FSCJ 4

Game two flipped the script a bit, as SFSC used the big innings of their own to secure the victory and a draw in the weekend series.

A 3-run 1^st inning for the visitors put FSCJ in a 3-0 hole before their turn to hit. A Billy Girgis RBI fielders choice scored Alex Monile in the bottom of the 1^st to make the game 3-1 after 1. A defensive miscue by the BlueWave plated another SFSC run in the 3^rd to make it 4-1 before again answering back in the 4^th with a Carson Womer RBI single to make it a 4-2 ballgame. The lead was extended again to 5-2 in the 5^th. A pair of 2-run frames for the Panthers in the 7^th and 8^th further took the lead out to 9-2. An Ashton Nugent pinch-hit 2-run home run in the 9^th brought the game to its final at 9-4.

Monile had a multi-hit game for FSCJ. Cayden Robinson (1-4) took the loss on the mound, going 4.2 innings, allowing 5 runs (3 earned) on 7 hits, 2 walks, and 4 strikeouts. Connor Nelson threw 1.1 innings of perfect relief.

What's Next?

FSCJ will host the College of Central Florida on Wednesday, March 27^th, in a midweek matinee at the new Fort Family Regional Park in the Baymeadows area of Jacksonville at 2:00 PM. Sun-Lakes Conference play will then continue against Lake-Sumter State College on Friday, March 29^th, (in Leesburg) and Saturday, March 30^th, (in Jacksonville).