Baseball Take Overall Over St. Pete

By Pat Clines

Bradenton, Fla - The SCF baseball team (26-19, 11-2 Suncoast) pulled off another win in walk-off fashion as they defeated St. Pete College (14-23, 5-9 Suncoast) 7-6 at Wynn Field. Wit the win, the Manatees 

"Anytime you get a conference win, it's always a good thing," said head coach Tim Hill II. "St. Pete played us pretty tough and they batted and could have came here and rolled over a little, but we weren't expecting it, even when we did good last night and today's game came down to the last pitch, so it was good that we were on the winning side of that."

"Overall, we came out a little shaky," said sophomore Connor Hults. "I think we all just believed in our talents and in each other and at the end of the day, we knew that we were the better team and we just did it."

"I thought we came out a little shaky, but we got passed it," said freshman Jayce Blalock. "If we hit, have good defense and decent pitching, then I don't see us losing and we had all three of those in use."

"The way this team is built means that it's not over until the final pitch," said sophomore Mario Lopez, Jr.

Hill sent freshman Ed Wagner to the mound, while SPC head coach Oscar Espada went with sophomore Tanner Boccabello.

The Titans would rattle Wagner at the top of the first as freshman Keslen Johnson would send a solo home run to left for his third of the season. The Manatees would respond back in the bottom half of the inning as sophomores Kevin Karstetter and Lucas Ismaili would hit back-to-back solo home runs for their 10th and seventh of the season.

Wagner would get into a bit of a jam at the top of the second with the bases full of Titans, but was able to get out of the situation with the defense behind him. Sophomore Brayden Woodburn would respond for the Manatees as he belted a solo homer run to center for his sixth of the season to make it 3-1 SCF.

At the top of the fourth, the Titans got Wagner to buckle as freshman Andrey Martinez would send a three-run homer to center for his 10th of the season to put the Titans in front 4-3. Johnson would then hit an RBI single before freshman Brett Wagner made it 6-3 with an RBI double. The final run would signal the end for Wagner as Hill would send Hults to the mound to relief him and get him out of the fourth. The Manatees would not lose hope and would cut the deficit to 6-4 after Blalock hit a single to bring in Ismaili in the bottom of the fourth.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Manatees would cut the Titans lead to 6-5 as freshman LT Cockrill would line a single to right to bring in Woodburn. One inning later, the Manatees would tie the game at six apiece as Ismaili would hit into a sacrifice fly to bring in freshman Erick Almonte.

While the Manatees pushed to tie the game, Hults continued to pound the zone on the mound as the upcoming Florida State transfer was able to keep the Titans from reaching base.

After Hults completed the top of the ninth, the Manatees would go for the walk-off win in the bottom half of the inning. After Almonte (hit by a pitch), Karstetter (walk) and Ismaili (reached on an error), Lopez would be the hero as he brought in Almonte on a sacrifice fly to give the Manatees the walk-off win.

"I knew what I doing up to that point," said Lopez. "At the end of the day, even with the pitcher throwing behind me, I had to do what the assignment for us. I just tried to pick one pitch and luckily I had it on a 1-0 and I was just sitting on it to get it up in the air and get us the win."

Wagner and Boccabello would both earn no-decisions. Wagner gave up six runs on nine hits with two walks and three strikeouts in three and two-thirds, while Boccabello gave up six runs on 11 hits with one walk and six strikeouts in seven innings.

Hults would get his second win of the season after throwing five and a third scoreless innings of relief with two walks and a career-high 10 strikeouts.

"I just trusted my talents," said Hults. "I knew I had to come pick the team up when we were down two runs and I knew that if I came in and got the momentum back on our side, let my fielder's make some plays, then I wasn't worried that we were going to win that game."

"Connor was the turning point for us," said Hill on Hults. "When he got into the game and they (St. Pete) stopped scoring, he was outstanding. We stretched him and wanted to take him out a little earlier than we did, but he talked into keeping him in the game. He's a competitor, but he was good and threw 75 pitches, which was the most he has thrown this season, but he was in control and as long as his stuff was good, we kept him out there, he battled and gave us the chance to claw back for the win."

Sophomore Gavin Sissel would be hit with the loss after giving up one run on one hit with one walk and one strikeout in one and a third of an inning of relief. Sophomore Leonardo Bravo threw a third of a scoreless inning of relief.

Blalock would be the leader in hits as he went 4-for-4 with an RBI.

"I felt good at the plate," said Blalock on his batting. "I made some adjustments during batting practice this morning and I just felt better. I was seeing the ball well, avoiding bad pitches and was not getting myself out."

Ismaili and Woodburn each finished 2-for-4 with a home run and two runs scored. Ismaili added two RBI, while Woodburn added one RBI and two runs. Karstetter finished 1-for-4 with a home run and a walk.

Almonte (1-for-4, two runs) and Cockrill (1-for-2, one RBI) and sophomore Richie Morales (1-for-4) had the remaining two hits, while Lopez (one RBI) also contributed in the game.

For the Titans, Johnson would be the only player on the team with a multi-hit game as he went 2-for-5 with a home run, two RBI and two runs. Martinez would lead the overall offense as he went 1-for-3 with three RBI.

Notes:

Karstetter home run puts him at 209 career hits and 147 career RBI.

Other Suncoast Scores:

Polk State (27-16, 9-5 Suncoast) defeated Hillsborough (8-33, 2-12 Suncoast) 6-4 and have eliminated them from FCSAA Playoff Contention.

Suncoast Conference Standings:

1. SCF (26-19, 12-2)

2. Polk State (27-16, 9-5)

3. St. Pete (14-23, 5-9)

4. Hillsborough (8-33, 2-12)*

*eliminated from playoff contention

Up Next:

The Manatees return to Clearwater Monday night, April 10 at 6 pm. Sophomore Ryan Stefiuk (2-3, 4.61 ERA) will be given the nod to start.