LAKELAND, Fla. – Florida Southern College held off Seton Hill University for an 18-10 win on Friday, March 10 at Historic Henley Field.
The Mocs' victory marked the most runs scored in a game all season.
Jeff Liquori led the team in runs, scoring four including home runs at consecutive at-bats.
El'Rico Riley and
Jevin Relaford scored three runs each.
Seton Hill took an early lead right out of the gate, with a two-RBI homer in the top of the first. It didn't take long for the Mocs to respond. The first Florida Southern run came when
Bryce Safferwich singled through the left, enabling Liquori to score.
Drew Cavanaugh advanced to third on the play.
Connor Berry hit a sacrifice fly to right field; Cavanaugh scored on the throw. At the end of the first, the score was tied 2-2.
The Mocs took off in the second and didn't look back.
Rohsean Riley entered scoring position with a triple to center field and scored on a ground out to second hit by
D'Ante Starks. Relaford bunted for a single, followed by a double to left center field by Liquori to drive Relaford in. Liquori would score on the next at-bat as
El'Rico Riley singled through the left side.
To round out the second, with Cavanaugh and
Bryce Safferwich on base, Berry singled and advanced to second on the throw, allowing both Mocs on base to score.
In the bottom of the third, Liquori homered to left field, driving in runs for Relaford and Starks. E. Riley singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch, eventually scoring on a single to right field by Cavanaugh. By the end of the third, the score was 11-2.
Florida Southern had another high-scoring inning in the fourth, racking up six runs. The action began with a homer from
Mitch Donofrio that drove in Berry. During the next at-bat, R. Riley tripled once again – the first time a Mocs has hit two triples in one game since Dominic Brugoni accomplished the feat against Clafin on Feb. 13, 2016.
Liquori came up to bat once again, belting a home run over the left-field fence. This feat marked the first time a Moc has hit back-to-back homers at consecutive at-bats so far this season. Liquori's homer also drove in Relaford.
E. Riley doubled to left field, followed by another left-field double by Cavanaugh that enabled E. Riley to score. At the end of the inning, Cavanaugh was left on base.
In the top of the sixth,
Aric McAtee entered the game to pitch for
Nathan Madej.
The Mocs would not score again until the seventh. Safferwich reached first on an error by Seton Hill's third baseman and advanced to second as Berry singled to shortstop. Donofrio followed with a base hit to center field, allowing Safferwich to move to third. Safferwich scored on a fly-out hit to center field by R. Riley.
Christian Suarez relieved
Kerry Wright during the top of the ninth, allowing two runs throughout the course of the inning. The surge of energy from Seton Hill in the ninth was not enough to reach the Mocs, and the final score stood 18-10.
Madej was the winning pitcher for the Mocs, with 11 hits and seven runs in five innings pitched. Madej's record for the year is 4-0.
The win against Seton Hill brought the Mocs' win streak to 12 games, the longest win streak for Florida Southern since 2017. Next up, the Mocs will host Indiana University of Pennsylvania for a three-game series over the course of three days beginning on Monday, March 13. The contest is set to start at 6 p.m.
