MELBOURNE, Fla. - In its return to Andy Seminick - Les Hall Field after two weeks away, the Florida Tech baseball team lost a 3-2 heartbreaker in game one of its series with Sunshine State Conference rival Saint Leo on Friday as a result of a late-game surge by the Lions.
 
Senior Ty Cohen took the mound for his 12^th start of the season and tossed eight complete frames while allowing three runs on eight hits. He also struck out seven batters during his appearance to bring his season total to 90.
 
Matt Coles and Matt DiNenna teamed up to pitch the ninth inning for Florida Tech and surrendered no runs and one hit.
 
Jakob Newton led the Crimson and Gray at the plate as he went 3-for-4 with two stolen bases. Staten Island native Jacob Buser added to the Panthers' offense as he went 2-for-4 and hit his team-leading 12^th home run of the season. 
 
Florida Tech struck first as Raul Quintero hit a sacrifice bunt toward the pitcher that allowed Zac Orchard to cross home plate. The game then turned into a pitchers duel as another run would not cross the plate until the top of the eighth, when the Lions brought home three to take the lead, 3-1.
 
Buser's bomb over the right-field fence cut the Panthers' deficit to one in the bottom of the eighth. Unfortunately, FIT was unable to muster another score in the inning and dropped game one to the Lions by a one-run margin.
 
Game two of the weekend series between Florida Tech and Saint Leo will take place on Saturday at 3 p.m. You can follow the action live at FloridaTechSports.com/live.