MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – After a 10-day hiatus the Florida Southern College baseball team took to the diamond for a doubleheader at Barry University on Sunday afternoon. The Mocs won Game One, 10-7, before falling 6-5 in game two.
On the season the Mocs are now 4-1 including a 3-0 mark in SSC play. Barry moves to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in conference action.
HOW IT HAPPENED
GAME ONE
- The Buccaneers opened the scoring in the bottom of the second on a leadoff home run by Michael Fernandez. After a walk and a stolen base, David Vazquez would advance to third on groundout and then put the home team up 2-0 on a wild pitch. Chase Ashby would give Barry a 3-0 lead as he scored on a one-out RBI double to left by Andrew Rapoza.
- Grady Maguire led off the top of the third with a lead off walk. He would come around and score as Vaun Brown put a ball over the left field wall cutting the Barry lead to 3-2.
- After Mocs starting pitcher, Jarrod Cande worked around a leadoff double to left as he would get a pair of fly outs and a groundout to keep the score 3-2 in favor of Barry. Tor Schnert opened the top of the fourth with a solo shot to centerfield to tie the game at 3-3.
- JC Garcia would put the home team back on top with a two-out solo shot to left, putting the Bucs up 4-3. Barry would tack on another run in the bottom of the sixth to push the lead to 5-3.
- Southern would tie the game at 5-5 in the top of the seventh on back-to-back hits. Jacob Teter sent a one-out single to right field that would score Dylan Costa from third. Alan Burnsed would follow with a base hit up the middle to score Teter from second and tie the game at 5-5.
- The Mocs would set up Zach Scott to open the scoring up as they would load the bases with two outs. Scott would hit a grand slam over the right field wall giving the Mocs a 9-5 lead. Sehnert would follow Scotts lead as put a solo shot over the center field wall for his second homer of the game and giving Florida Southern a 10-5 lead.
- Derek Smolenski would make it a 10-7 score as he pinch hit two-run shot over the left field wall.
- J.J. Niekro would enter in the bottom of the ninth and get a pair of fly outs and strikeout to earn his first save of the season.
GAME TWO
- Brown led off the second game with a five-pitch walk. He would come around and score on a Teter homerun to right field giving the Mocs an early 2-0 lead.
- The lead would be short lived as the Bucs would push three runs across the plate in the bottom of the first all with two-outs. After the first inning, Barry would lead 3-2.
- Southern would tie the game at 3-3 in the top of the third inning as Sehnert hit an RBI single to the pitcher scoring Teter from third.
- In similar fashion as the first inning, the Bucs answered the Mocs with three runs in the bottom of the third giving them a 6-3 lead.
- Scott opened the top of the sixth for the Mocs as he reached on a throwing error by the shortstop and advanced into scoring position. Sehnert would take one for the team giving Florida Southern runners on first and second with no outs. Connor Berry sent a base hit to right field to score Scott from second making it a 6-4 ball game. After a Cody Duke strikeout, the runners would each advance 90 feet on a wild pitch to cut the Barry lead to just one, 6-5. The Bucs would get out of the inning with the lead still intact with a pair of fly outs.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- With his HBP in game one, Brown now has 35 HBP in his career, moving him closer to tying former teammate Pablo Cabrera (37) for fourth in FSC history.
- The Mocs hit five home runs on Sunday, four in game one and one in the second game. Southern has now hit 13 homeruns through five games.
- Florida Southern's pitchers struck out 13 Buccaneers between the two games.
UP NEXT
The team is back in action on Wednesday as they head to Saint Leo for a non-conference game with first pitch scheduled for 6:00 p.m. in Saint Leo.
