MELBOURNE, Fla. – Florida Tech looked to finish its Spring Break gauntlet with a strong showing against regional opponent Spring Hill. The team would accomplish their goal as they easily dispelled the Badgers in both games of the home doubleheader to open the three game series.
On the mound in game one of the doubleheader was the Crimson and Gray's ace
Ty Cohen who tossed a complete game in the shorten seven inning contest. Cohen struck out 13 batters while only allowing seven hits and three runs, all earned, and only walking one.
The Panthers found themselves behind quickly after Spring Hill had one batter cross out the plate during a two-out rally. However, the Panthers responded in the bottom half of the second when shortstop
Rodnie Bernard knocked a ball into left field, scoring
Kevin Capella and
Jacob Buser. Buser kicked off the scoring the next time the team was up to bat as he drove in
Daniel Szpik on a deep sac fly.
Zac Orchard would be the next Florida Tech batter to earn a RBI as he hit a gapper to left center that allowed
Ryan Sinzenich to reach the bag.
Jakob Newton pushed the lead to 5-2 when he slowly grounded out to the Badger's third baseman which gave Orchard enough time to reach the plate unimpeded. A glaring throwing error in the bottom of the fourth by the Badger's third baseman helped Sinzenich snag two bases as well as ushered
James Gronberg across home plate.
During the next at-bat Buser would blast a deep shot to left center that resulted in a double for himself and allowed both Sinzenich and Szpik to tally runs. Spring Hill eventually responded in the top of the sixth to halt the Panthers run when Brennan Fontenot would hit a solo shot over the right field wall. This would motivation FIT as they drove in two more run in the bottom half of the inning when Newton would drive a ball to right center that ushered Orchard and Quintero across standing up pushing the lead to eight.
The top of the seventh saw another Badgers run score narrowing the lead to 10-3. The Crimson and Gray ended the contest early though when Newton would triple off a blast to center that scored Capella, Quintero and Sinzenich which pushed the score to the allotted 10 run rule in the bottom of the seventh.
Sam Crocker would garner the start in game two of the afternoon and give an impressive five inning display to tally the win. He was replaced by
Rhett Willis who would toss four beautiful frames to end the game and earn himself a well-deserved save.
Game two saw FIT pick up right where it left off as they would take a 3-0 after the first inning thanks to Szpik and his moon shot to left center field that easily cleared the wall scoring Gronberg and himself. Buser would grab himself another RBI when he doubled down the right field line that sent Sinzenich home. The team would score again in the bottom half of the second when Spzik would single through the right side that allowed Pierson Reynold to tout across the plate.
The Panthers would again score in the third when a wild pitch by the Badger's Jonathan Williams sent Capella scampering over home plate. In the fifth, the team would again find themselves lighting up the scoreboard as Reynolds would hit a sac fly that send Capella home. Later in the inning, Gronberg, sent a quick grounder through the right side that sent Newton back to the dug out with one more run on his season.
Spring Hill would finally breakthrough in game two during the top of sixth when a Luke Wall single scoring Fontenot. FIT would respond in the bottom of the inning when Capella would send home Sinzenich to put at lead to 8-1. This would end the scoring for the game as both teams would hunker down defensively through the final frames.
Florida Tech will look to complete the sweep of the Badger tomorrow at 12 p.m. at Andy Seminick – Les Hall Field. Follow tomorrow's action live at floridatechsports.com/live or on the SSC Digital Network.
