Baseball Sweeps SPC in Regular Season Finale

Clearwater, Fla - The SCF baseball team (35-19, 20-13 Citrus) were able to take their second sweep of Citrus Conference play on the road as they defeated St. Pete (9-39, 6-27 Citrus) 7-4 in nine innings and 15-2 in five innings on St. Pete's sophomore day. With the two wins and #7 Indian River State taking two wins over #21 Central Florida in their doubleheader, the Manatees finished third in the Citrus Conference.

"It was nice to finish the season on a positive note," said head coach Tim Hill II. "It's always  tough to sweep teams in our conference when were down to our last out in the first game, but Luke (Boykin), Ryan (Kaitz) and Mario (Trivella) had some tough at-bats to give us the lead and then we did what we needed to do in extra innings. The bats came alive better in the second game and Oscar threw well. We have some guys in our lineup that can hit the ball out, so that obviously helped us today, especially Myles (Davis), who had a big week for us. I'm very glad to be back in postseason for our 50th state tournament appearance and I'm so very happy for the guys who have worked hard to get us back into the state tournament.

"Overall, I thought we played very well," said sophomore Oscar Hernandez. "The first game was a bit of a battle, but good teams are able to win games like that. The sweep was definitely huge for us to gain momentum before next week while still locking in on the little things for the playoffs. Making the playoffs feels great, but we know the job is far from over. Getting this program back to the playoffs was the first step and now we have to keep winning."

"It felt good to take this series," said sophomore Walker Vanecek. "We took care of who we needed to take care of."

"We definitely handled our business today," said sophomore Connor O'Sullivan. "We had a lot of contributions from a lot of different players. It was a nice series series win and sweep as a team. Going into the playoffs with all this positive momentum cannot be understated. We are all very excited for the opportunity that we have in front of us in the next coming weeks."

Game One:

Hill II sent freshman Lochlan Radloff (7-4, 3.33 ERA) to start game one, while St. Pete head coach Oscar went with sophomore Mel Rubiera (0-2, 5.28 ERA) to counter.

For the first four innings of the game between Radloff and Rubiera as both pitchers were able to prevent runs from getting on the board. Eventually, the Titans would get on the board first in the bottom of the fifth after a bases loaded walk by freshman Drew Pynes and sophomore Yeriel Pastrana getting hit by a pitch would give them a 2-0 lead. The Manatees would then cut the Titans' lead to 2-1 at the top of the sixth after Vanecek drove in freshman Ryan Kaitz with a single to left to make it 2-1 SPC.

At the top of the seventh, the Manatees would take their first lead of the game as sophomore Mario Trivella would send a triple to right-center to bring in Kaitz and sophomore Luke Boykin to make it 3-2 SCF. The Titans would not go down quietly as they tied the game at 3-3 after an RBI single by Pynes before the game went into extra innings.

After eighth went scoreless for both teams, the Manatees would rally together and retake the lead. After Boykin (hit by a pitch), Kaitz (single) and Trivella (walk) loaded the bases, Vanecek would pump up the Manatees bats as he grounded a single to center to bring in Boykin and Kaitz before sophomore Connor O'Sullivan would pop a single to center to bring in Trivella. After freshman Clayton Evans hit a single to load the bases, classmate Dominic Donatucci would bring in freshman Bernard Barnes, who came in to pinch run for Vanecek, with a groundout to make it 7-3 SCF.

The Titans would add one more run to the board as sophomore Jose Rangel would send a solo home run to right for his third of the season, but it would not be enough as the Manatees took the game and the overall series.

Both Radloff and Rubiera would each earn a no-decision in their starts. Radloff gave up two runs (one earned) on six hits with three walks and six strikeouts in five innings, while Rubiera gave up one run on four hits with four walks and five strikeouts in five innings.

Redshirt freshman Cole Dement would get the win and improve to 3-2 after giving up one run on two hits with three strikeouts in two innings of relief. Sophomore Daniel Hartley gave up one run on three hits in two innings of relief.

Sophomore Garrett Moran would get the loss and fall to 1-2 after giving up two runs on three hits with one walk in one inning of relief.

Vanecek would be the only Manatee with a multi-hit game and lead the offense as he went 2-for-3 with three RBI.

"I felt good out there today," said Vanecek. "It felt good to get back in the groove of things timing wise."

Trivella would follow on offense as he went 1-for-2 with two RBI, one run and three walks. Boykin (1-for-4, two runs), Kaitz (1-for-1, three runs and one walk), O'Sullivan (1-for-1, one RBI), Evans (1-for-4), sophomores CJ Richard (1-for-4) and Allan Gil Fernandez (1-for-5) and freshmen Myles Davis (1-for-4, two walks) and Ben Ryan (1-for-2) had the remaining hits.

For the Titans, Rangel (3-for-3) and freshman Joseph DiCesare each had three hits, while Pynes lead the way offensively going 1-for-4 with two RBI.

Game Two:

Looking to take the sweep, Hill II sent Hernandez (7-4, 5.27 ERA) to the mound, while Espada countered with freshman Chris Conde (0-3, 9.90 ERA).

The Manatees would open on the board first at the top of the first as freshman Holden Brauner would hit a lead off solo home run to right for his fifth of the season. After Davis reached first on a fielding error, Gil Fernadez would send a triple to right-center to bring in Davis. Two batters later, freshman Mattie Counts would send a single to right to bring in Gil Fernandez to make it 3-0 SCF.

The Manatees would then extend their lead at the top of the second as O'Sullivan would show off his first bit of power as he sent a solo homer to right for his first collegiate home run of his career.

"It was a great feeling being greeted at the dugout by all of my teammates," said O'Sullivan on his first home run. "It always feels special to contribute in a big way to a big win for the team."

After freshman Will Rawls hit a single and moved to second on a groundout, Davis would show his power as well as he sent a solo home run to left-center for his fifth of the season and make it 6-0 SCF. The Titans would put in their only runs on the board in the bottom half of the inning as freshman Amarri Daniel would send a two-run homer to center for his fifth of the season and make it 6-2 still in SCF's favor. At the top of the third, Trivella would lead the inning off with power as he hit a solo home run to right for his sixth of the season. 

The lead would increase further at the top of the fourth. After Rawls and Davis each hit a single, Rawls would get caught stealing before Gil Fernandez and Ryan drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. Trivella would then draw a walk of his own to bring in Davis and reload the bases before Counts lined a single to center to bring in Gil Fernandez and Ryan. Kaitz would then draw a walk to reload the bases before O'Sullivan sent a single of his own to center and bring in Trivella and Counts and Rawls lined a single to left to bring in Kaitz to make it 13-2 before sealing the victory and the series sweep.

Hernandez would improve to 8-4 after throwing a five inning complete game, giving up two runs on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

"I felt good, but it's very easy to pitch when your team gives you such a big cushion," said Hernandez on his game. "I love pitching for these guys and hopefully I have a few more wins left in the chamber.

Conde would fall to 0-4 on the year after giving up six runs (four earned) on six hits with one strikeout in one and a third innings. Sophomore Emilio Rodriguez would give up six runs on four hits with three walks in two and a third innings of relief, while classmate Christian Del Campo gave up one run on three hits with one walk and one strikeout in one and a third innings.

Four Manatees had a multi-hit game. It was Davis and Rawls that lead the way in hitting with three hits each. Davis (3-for-4) had a home run, two RBI and three runs, while Rawls (3-for-3) had one run and one RBI.

Counts (2-for-3) and O'Sullivan (2-for-3) lead the way offensively with two hits, one run and three RBI each.

Brauner (1-for-4, one home run), Gil Fernandez (1-for-2, one RBI, two runs and one walk) and Trivella (1-for-3, one home run, two runs, two RBI and one walk) had the remaining hits.

For the Titans, freshman Lenin Nunez lead the way in hitting as he went 2-for-3 at the plate, while Daniel had the lone multi-RBI game as he went 1-for-2 with a home run and two RBI.

Other Citrus Conference Scores:

#7 Indian River State (34-14, 24-9 Citrus) swept #21 Central Florida (34-16, 19-14 Citrus) 10-0 and 8-6.

#11 Florida Southwestern (39-13, 24-9 Citrus) swept Polk State (27-28, 14-19 Citrus) 6-5 (8) and 12-0 (5).

Seminole State College of Florida (29-22, 17-16 Citrus) split with Daytona State (14-30, 12-21 Citrus) losing game one 9-3 before winning game two 12-2 in five innings.

Santa Fe (24-26, 15-18 Citrus) split with Hillsborough (20-30, 12-21 Citrus) winning game one 2-1 before losing game two 4-3.

Citrus Conference Standings:

1. #11 Florida Southwestern (39-13, 24-9)*

2. #7 Indian River State (34-14, 24-9)*

3. SCF (35-19, 20-13)*

4. #21 Central Florida (34-16, 19-14)*

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

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

7. Seminole State College of Florida (29-22, 17-16)

8. Santa Fe (24-26, 15-18)

9. Polk State (27-28, 14-19)

10. Hillsborough (20-30, 12-21)

11. Daytona State (14-30, 12-21)

12. St. Pete (9-39, 6-27)

Up Next:

The Manatees will look to see who they face in the regionals of the NJCAA Region 8 State Baseball Tournament.