FSCJ breaks even with South Georgia State College in doubleheader

Florida State College at Jacksonville baseball played the South Georgia State College (SGSC) Hawks in a doubleheader matchup on Tuesday in Douglas, Georgia. The BlueWave split the day, bringing their record to 6-8 on the young season.

South Georgia 9, FSCJ 2

After two innings of a 0-0 stalemate, SGSC broke out for a 7-run explosion in the third, proving too much for the BlueWave to overcome. The Hawks tacked on single runs in the 4^th and 5^th, while the lone two runs for FSCJ came in the top of the 5^th on a Isaac Newman RBI walk and a Alex Monile RBI groundout. Dylan Peck (0-2) took the loss for FSCJ, allowing 3 earned runs in 2.1 innings pitched on 3 hits, 1 walk, and 3 strikeouts. Ethan Wilford provided a perfect inning in relief.

FSCJ 16, South Georgia 6

Game 2 was a twist of fate, as the BlueWave scored multiple runs in 6 of the 7 innings with the offense exploding for 16 runs. The scoring got started early in the top of the 1^st with Ashton Nugent contributing a sacrifice fly to score Alex Monile, who singled to start the game. Matt Retamoza scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0 after 1. Back-to-back doubles from Sean Esquinaldo and Mac Wilkins in the top of the 2^nd plated the third run of the game, before Aidan Hampton connected with his first career home run, a 3-run shot to left to make the game 6-0. South Georgia answered with 1 run in the bottom half of the 2^nd. Esquinaldo singled home two more runs in the 3^rd for a 8-1 lead. A solo home run from the Hawks cut the game to 8-2 in the 3^rd. Monile singled home two more BlueWave baserunners in the 5^th to extend the lead to 10-2. A four-spot by the home team kept the game interesting at 10-6 until FSCJ took control of the game one final time with three runs in the 6^th via a Mac Wilkins bases loaded walk and a Monile two-RBI single. The last three runs of the game came in the top of the 7^th from a Braden Kessel RBI single, Esquinaldo RBI groundout, and Monile RBI double. Gant Geiger (2-0) earned the win for FSCJ, pitching three innings, allowing two runs on five hits, two walks, and one strikeout. Dylan Cope got a big strikeout to escape the jam in the 5^th inning, before Ethan Yesensky threw the final two innings, allowing zero runs on two hits, one walk, and three strikeouts.

What's Next?

FSCJ will start Sun-Lakes Conference play this weekend against Lake-Sumter State College, beginning Friday (2/23) at home at 3:00 p.m. and then Saturday (2/24) in Leesburg, FL for a 12:00 p.m. doubleheader.