MELBOURNE, Fla. (Baseball) - FIT improves its record to 12-5 after defeating Winona State University 4-1 on Monday Mar. 6 at Andy Seminick Les-Hall Field. The Panthers show no signs of slowing down as they reach their third consecutive win.

Sam Crocker (1-1) boasted an exceptional day on the mound after limiting the Warriors to one run on five hits with two walks and five strikeouts throughout seven innings. Reliever, Colin Cristello, closed out the day in the top of the eight, downing the Winona lineup for the remaining two innings, allowing no hits and striking out one. 

John Sternagel (2-for-5, 1 homerun, 2 RBIs), Grant McKown (2-for-3, 1 RBI) and right fielder Dan Szpik (1-for-2) led the Panthers offensive line-up. Defensively, Florida Tech obtained 27 put outs and completed a double play for a fielding percentage of .955. The Crimson and Gray are currently holding a fielding percentage of .962 with 174 assists and 24 errors in 146 innings played.

FIT started the game with a hard hit double to the left center by third baseman Reid Neal. Neal eventually found himself crossing the plate on a passed ball to first scratch a run for the Panthers. Forwarded to the bottom of the third, Sternagel added two more runs off a long shot homerun deep to left center to increase the margin to 3-0. With McKown up to bat, another double through the left side put runners on base for the Panthers, however, the Warrior defense snuck out of the inning with after consecutive outs.

In the fifth inning, Sternagel opened with a double through the left side and advanced to third thanks to a sac bunt by Neal. McKown then singled to the left side driving home Sternagel and putting FIT to a 4-0 lead.

The next three innings went scoreless for Florida Tech and Winona State closed the gap at the top of the six with a solo homerun. Coming in to close, Cristello finished off the remainder of the Warrior lineup to seal the 4-1 win. 

Florida Tech will be back tomorrow against Catawba College at 3 p.m. ET at Andy Seminick-Les Hall Field. For live coverage, please visit FloridaTechSports.com/live.