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MELBOURNE - Florida Southern took out its season-long road frustrations here against 25th-ranked Florida Tech as the Moccasins scored a season-high tying 13 runs en route to posting a 13-0 shutout victory over the Panthers in Sunshine State Conference action at Andy Seminick-Les Hall Field on the Florida Tech campus.
The game, which was suspended with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning on Friday night due to rain and lightning that hit the Melbourne area, was resumed on Saturday as the teams played the final 1.2 innings.
FSC's win snapped the Mocs 17-game road losing streak and also snapped a four-game losing skid overall. Prior to the win, the Mocs had gone 0-17 on the road this season and hadn't earned a road win since defeating Rollins 14-3 in last year's season finale in Winter Park.
With the win, FSC improves to 16-21 overall and moves to 8-8 in the league, while Tech had its three-game win streak snapped and falls to 29-14 overall and 12-7 in the league.
In the victory, the Mocs recorded a season-high 14 hits, including recording three doubles and drawing five walks from four Tech pitchers.
The Mocs jumped in front 1-0 in the second inning as junior second baseman Conor Szczerba (Titusville, Fla.) scored on a passed ball by Florida Tech catcher Austin Allen. Szczerba led off the inning by getting hit by a pitch and moved to third on a single by senior first baseman Kyle Jackson (Avon Park, Fla.).
FSC's lead grew to 3-0 in the third inning as sophomore third baseman Keith Curcio (Sarasota, Fla.) drove home the first run on a double to right center off of Jason Boyer, the Panthers starting pitcher. Curcio's double scored redshirt junior centerfielder J.J. Downum (Land O'Lakes, Fla.), who had led off the inning with an infield single. Curcio would score on a sacifice fly off the bat off senior shortstop Kyle Gibbs (Sarasota, Fla.).
In the fifth, the Mocs pushed its lead to 4-0 on an RBI single down the left field line by Gibbs. Gibbs' single scored Curcio, who had reached on a one-out single to left center and then stole second for his team-leading 26th stolen base of the season.
The Mocs extended its lead to 6-0 in the sixth inning as they took advatange of a Panther error to score its fifth run and then used an RBI by Downum to score the game's sixth run. Downum's single to right center plated senior leftfielder Austin Jackson (Deltona, Fla.), who had reached on a single down the right field line.
FSC added to its lead in the seventh inning as senior pinch hitter Colin Kish (Philadelphia, Pa.) drove in Szczerba with a run on a fielder's choice and then Austin Jackson followed with an RBI double that plated Kish to give the Mocs an 8-0 lead.
The Mocs offense would explode for five runs off of three hits in the top of the eighth inning to push its lead to 13-0. In the inning, the Mocs loaded the bases thanks to two walks and a hit batsman from Tech relief pitcher Trevor Berry. After hitting Kyle Jackson with a pitch that loaded the bases with out, Kish laced a single to center that scored Gibbs, who had drawn a leadoff walk from Berry. Austin Jackson would drive home the next run as he drew a bases loaded walk from Berry, which was then followed by a 2-run double from senior catcher Brad Carlton (Arcadia, Fla.) and an RBI single by Downum. Berry would get out of the inning by forcing Curcio to pop up and Gibbs to ground out to second.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Tech would get two runners on base to chase Moccasin junior starter Clay Chapman (Orlando, Fla.) from the game after forcing Allen to ground out for the second out of the inning. Allen's groundout brought junior Nate Carter (Boca Raton, Fla.) out of the bullpen and also brought a halt to the action thanks to lightning and rain.
When the game resumed on Saturday, Carter was replaced on the mound by sophomore Austin Barnett (Lakeland, Fla.) and he walked the first batter he faced to load the bases, before striking out Andrew Bartlett to end the inning.
In the ninth, senior Jack Sterritt (Ponte Vedra, Fla.) relieved Barnett and would put the first two runners on base on a walk and a hit, but would retire the next two batter, one on a strikeout and ending the game on a double play.
Curcio and Downum each recorded three hits and combined to drive in three runs and score three times, while Gibbs, Kyle Jackson and Austin Jackson each had two hits in the win.
Chapman (3-5) pitched one of his better outings of the season on Friday as he allowed five hits in nearly eight innings of work, while walking four and striking out four. Chapman's outing was tied for his second longest of the season as he also threw 7.2 innings against Tampa on April 5.
The Panthers, who had six hits, was led by two hits from Dan Bodziak.
Boyer (5-5) took the loss on the hill for the Panthers as he pitched three innings and allowed four hits and three runs (two earned), while walking one and fanning two.
The other three Panther relievers, G.J. Strauss, Berry and Jake Holsinger combined to throw five innings and allow 10 hits and 10 runs (eight earned runs), while walking four and striking out six.
Both team's will look to conclude its weekend SSC series with Tech with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
