Box Score
SAINT LEO â€"Florida Southern College made some untimely errors that ended up costing them the game in a back-and-forth non-conference battle against Saint Leo by the score of 9-5 to end its five-game winning streak at Thomas B. Southard Stadium.
Saint Leo (6-2) got to senior starting pitcher Brian Johnson (Oldsmar, Fla.) early in the first inning when a leadoff single by Nick Perez set up a two-run homerun. Perez came into the game batting .611 (22 for 36). After a groundout and a hit batsman, Johnson found himself in some more trouble as a double came off the center field wall. A good relay by junior Keith Curcio (Sarasota, Fla.) to junior shortstop Casey Eddinger (Crawfordville, Fla.) held the runner at third, but he would end up scoring on the next play on a groundout to second.
The Mocs (6-5) would answer back in the top of the second when senior designated hitter Jimmy Correnti (Fort Myers, Fla.) would advance from first to third on a two-out bloop single to left by junior catcher Joey Miller (Sarasota, Fla.). Eddinger reached on an RBI fielder’s choice when the Lions third baseman missed the tag on Miller who advanced to third on the play.
Johnson was able to settle down in the second inning where he got Saint Leo to go down one-two-three thanks in large part to a 4-3 double-play on Nick Perez. That would be all for Johnson, however, as he would be replaced by senior Nick Krolczyk (Coral Springs, Fla.).
FSC would get their offense going again with two outs in the third when senior first baseman Trey Vavra (Menomonie, Wis.) smashed a double into the left field corner. Vavra would score on a single up the middle by junior third baseman Chris Dennis (Rockledge, Fla.) that was just off the tip of the outstretched glove of the Lions shortstop. After Correnti and junior right fielder Dominic Brugnoni (St. Clair Shores, Mich.) had back-to-back hit by pitches to load the bases, the Mocs hopes to take the lead would be put on hold as Miller looked at strike three to end the inning.
The Lions would threaten early in the bottom half of the frame when Taylor Perez would be hit by a 3-2 Krolczyk pitch. Perez would steal second, and advance to third on a one-out fly out to right, but would be stranded there as a grounder to the Mocs sure-handed second baseman Conor Szczerba (Titusville, Fla.) would close out the inning.
Offensively, the Mocs stayed hot as Eddinger would lead off with a two-bagger after he sprayed the ball to right center. A sacrifice bunt up the first baseline by Szczerba advanced Eddinger to third, and almost reached first as Saint Leo pitcher nearly disrupted the tag applied by the first baseman. Junior left fielder Trevor Freeman (Shalimar, Fla.) would bring him in to tie the game with a single to center. After Curcio overanxiously flew out right, Vavra would earn his team-leading 12th RBI on the year with a double down the right fieldline to give the Saint Leo starter Liam O’Sullivan an early exit. Dennis would give the Lions a scare, but his fly ball to right field ran out of gas at the warning track to end the inning.
Saint Leo would tie the game in the bottom of the fifth inning after a rare one-out error by Szczerba allowed Taylor Perez to reach base. Perez would steal his second bag of the night with two outs, and a double to center field would bring in the tying run.
FSC would get their leadoff batter on base for the fourth time in the game as Szczerba opened the top half of the sixth with a single to right center. Freeman gave up his at-bat to advance his teammate 90 feet, but that’s where he would remain as a fly out to left and a groundout to third would end the inning.
The Lions led off the bottom half of the sixth with a single of their own to right center, and, after a wild pitch, they put themselves into a good position to retake the lead. That would not be the case, however, as Krolczyk would come back and get the next batter swinging. The next batter would walk, but Krolczyk would catch Dylan Harris being too greedy at second and picked him off 1-4-5. The next batter popped up to shortstop to end the threat.
The Mocs third baseman would start off the top of the seventh with a double down the right field line to earn his fourth multi-hit game this year. After a pop out to short, Dennis would be thrown out at third after the Brugnoni pop up was dropped by the Lion’s first baseman for the second out of the inning. Miller would pick up his teammate though as he would score Brugnoni from first with a double down the left field line to take a 5-4 lead.
That lead would not last long, however, as junior Casey Eskew (Sarasota, Fla.) would get into trouble as the Perez’s would lead off with back-to-back singles to left field. After a walk to load the bases, Eskew would dodge the bullet as he flipped a tapper back to the mound home to hold the lead for the time being. That would be the end of his night as the left-handed senior Steven Burnham (Valrico, Fla.) would come into the game. A sacrifice fly would bring the tying run home for the Lions, and two RBI single to center would give them the lead 7-5. The first Moccasin balk of the year would advance the Lion’s base runner into scoring position with two outs. A throwing error by Dennis would allow him to score stretching the deficit to three.
Saint Leo would add to their lead with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth to close out the scoring for the game. Brandon Terry came in to get the two-inning save for the Lions as Eskew fell to 0-1 on the season.
FSC will return home this weekend when they will host the Clafin University Panthers at historic Henley Field for a three-game series. Opening pitch for Friday’s game is scheduled for 6 p.m. The teams will play a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
