Box Score
CLEVELAND, Mississippi - Florida Southern concluded its three-game weekend series with No. 1 ranked Delta State here Sunday afternoon at Ferriss Field with a 5-1 loss to the Statesmen.
With the loss, the Moccains fall to 5-10 on the season, while DSU improves to 10-0 on the year.
Sunday's series finale concluded the Mocs first month of play as FSC played 12 of its 15 games in the first month of the schedule against teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament and played nine of those 15 games against teams that are nationally ranked.
The Statesmen did all of its scoring in the first two innings of Sunday's series finale and then rode the strong pitching of Michael Manley and Taylor Stark to complete its three-game sweep of the Moccasins.
In Sunday's game, the Mocs put two runners on base thanks to an error and a single to right field by senior shortstop Kyle Gibbs (Sarasota, Fla.) in the first inning, but Manley, who was named this week's NCBWA Division II South Region Pitcher of the Week on Wednesday, would strike out the next three Moc hitters to leave the runners stranded.
The Statesmen, who were playing its 10th straight home game, jumped in front 3-0 in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI double by Michael Vinson and added two more runs on a single to left field by Brent Langston. In the inning, Moc starter, junior Alex Norris (Clearwater, Fla.) allowed just two hits, but the Mocs defense committed two errors.
DSU pushed its lead to 5-0 in the bottom of the second inning on a walk, two singles and a error by redshirt junior centerfielder J.J. Downum (Land O'Lakes, Fla.). The error by Downum came on his throw to second base on a single by Tyler Aldridge, that allowed two runs to score.
The Mocs would get on the scoreboard in the fifth inning thanks to loading the bases with one out three consecutive singles by redshirt freshman leftfielder Christian Magno (Longwood, Fla.), senior catcher Brad Carlton (Arcadia, Fla.) and Downum. The Mocs would score its only run on a fielder's choice grounder by junior second baseman Conor Szczerba (Titusville, Fla.) that allowed Magno to score. Manley, though, got out of the jam by forcing Gibbs to hit into a double play to end the inning. The single by Carlton extended his hitting streak to six consecutive games.
Like Manley, Szczerba was honored by the NCBWA this week as he was named the South Region Hitter of the Week. In the three game series against DSU, Szczerba had three hits, recorded two RBIs and had a stolen base.
In the eighth inning, the Mocs had another scoring opportunity as they put two runners on base after Szczerba was hit by pitch with one out and sophomore third baseman Keith Curcio (Sarasota, Fla.) drew a two-out walk from Manley that chased the righthander from the game. The Mocs, though, failed to score as Taylor Stark relieved Manley and end the threat by forcing senior first baseman Kyle Jackson (Avon Park, Fla.) to ground out.
The Mocs had five different players record a hit in the game. DSU finished with eight hits, including two apiece from Aldridge, Vinson and Jordan Chovanec.
Norris (0-2) took the loss on the hill for the Mocs as he threw two innings and allowed four hits and five runs (four earned), while walking three. The Mocs other two pitchers, juniors Steven Burnham (Valrico, Fla.) and Nate Carter (Boca Raton, Fla.) shut down the Statesmen offense over the final six innings as they combined to allow just four hits and record two strikeouts.
Burnham pitched five innings and scattered just three hits and had two strikeouts, while Carter pitched the eighth inning and allowed just one hit.
Manley (2-0) earned the victory as he threw 7.2 innings and allowed five hits and one run, while walking one and fanning a career-high 11 batters. Stark struck out two batters and didn't allow a hit over the final 1.1 innings.
The Mocs will now take eight days off before returning to action on Tuesday, March 5 with a 6 p.m. non-conference game at Saint Leo. The two teams will be meeting for the second time this year as the Lions picked up an 8-4 win in Lakeland in the Mocs home opener on Feb. 5.
