MELBOURNE, Fla. (Baseball) - Florida Tech had a hard fought day on Saturday in a double header against Florida Southern. The Panthers fell to the Mocs in both games, which led to Florida Southern sweeping the Panthers' first conference series of the season. Both games were close and the Panthers took lead on multiple opportunities, however the Moccasins pulled out the wins late in game two and three of the series.

In Game 1, Florida Southern started out strong when they scored a run in the first inning. Florida Tech came back in the fourth after James Gronberg picked up his first RBI of the day by hitting a grounder to first and allowing Dan Szpik to cross home plate to put FIT on the scoreboard.

The Panthers took the lead in the fifth when Szpik hit a sacrifice fly to left field which brought home Reid Neal. The score remained 2-1 until the top of the eighth when the Mocs scratched two more runs to put them ahead of the Crimson and Gray.

While the Panthers collected another hit in the bottom of the ninth, they could not manage to bring in any more runs and were defeated 3-2 by Florida Southern.

Drew Beyer took his first loss of the season in game one of the double header. Beyer recorded three strikeouts in the three innings he pitched and managed to keep the Mocs to only two runs on five hits. Leading off on the mound, Tyler Deel tallied six strikeouts and held Florida Southern to only one run on four hits in the six innings he pitched.

The Panthers seemed to rally in game two after snatching four runs and five hits in the first inning. Grant McKown and Szpik put FIT on the scoreboard with back-to-back singles. Fellow teammates Ryan Sinzenich and David Wilson recorded a double and one RBI apiece.

Florida Tech held Florida Southern scoreless until the fourth inning when they managed to take the lead and score five runs off six hits. The Panthers were quick to answer in bottom home half when McKown singled up the middle and grabbed two more runs for the Panthers. Szpik then hit his second sacrifice fly of the day, which reduced the gap to 7-5.

The Moccasins were quick to answer in the top of the sixth by scoring another three runs. In the following innings, Florida Southern posted four more runs and led 12-7.The Panthers tried to come back in the bottom of the ninth, Panthers right fielder, Szpik, flared a single to left center and drove home John Sternagel. However, the productive streak faded soon and the Panthers eventually fell to the Mocs 12-8.

Taking his first loss of the season was relief pitcher Grant Willcoxon. He tallied five strikeouts in the three innings pitched and held the Mocs to only three runs on five hits. Pitcher Andrew Marzheuser started on the mound for the Panthers, he managed four strikeouts and held the Mocs to just five runs. 

Szpik had quite a day going 4-for-7 at the plate with four RBIs while fellow teammate McKown collected three RBIs. The Panthers totaled 20 hits and 10 runs throughout the day to complete their first conference series of the season.

Next, the Panthers head to West Palm Beach, Fla. to face Palm Beach Atlantic in their second conference series on Friday, March 17 at 6 p.m. ET. For live coverage, log on to floridatechsports.com