MELBOURNE, Fla. – Florida Southern College baseball (27-11, 12-6 SSC) defeated Florida Institute of Technology (21-18 10-11 SSC) 11-5 in a midweek non-conference contest Tuesday night at Andy Seminick-Les Hall Field.
Leading the Mocs in runs was
Jevin Relaford with two, and leading in RBI was
Jeff Liquori, whose 3-RBI homer helped him tally four RBI total.
Florida Southern wasted no time lighting into action, scoring their first run in the top of the first to take a lead that they would not give up for the remainder of the game.
Starks was the first Mocs batter to score after gaining a base on balls, stealing second and advancing to third on a single to field by
Connor Berry. Berry and
Bryce Safferwich were left on base at the end of the first, but not before the scoreboard favored the Mocs 1-0.
The second inning scoring action began with another base gained on balls for
Rohsean Riley. After R. Riley walked, Relaford reached first on an error by Florida Tech's third baseman. Relaford advanced to third, and R. Riley scored on a wild pitch.
Grady Maguire struck out swinging but reached first on a bounced strike that got away from the Panthers' catcher and enabled Relaford to score.
Starks reached first on an error and Maguire advanced to second. A sacrifice fly from
Drew Cavanaugh gave Maguire the opportunity to advance to third. Safferwich drove in Maguire with a single to right field.
The Mocs added two more runs to their total in the third as
Mitch Donofrio reached first on a fielder's choice, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a base hit by Relaford. Relaford would go on to tally the second run of the inning for the Mocs on an error by Florida Tech's catcher after stealing third, bringing the score to 6-0.
Starks walked again to start the fourth, advancing to second on a fly out. Safferwich drove Starks in with a single through the left side.
Liquori enabled all three sixth inning Moccasin runs, hammering the ball over the right center field fence for a three-RBI homer. Driven in by Liquori's home run was Cavanaugh, who had gained a base on balls, and Berry, who had singled up the middle previously in the inning.
Christian Suarez relieved
Mitchell LeRoy in the sixth, striking out three batters to end the inning. In the seventh, Florida Tech scored for the first time during the contest, racking up four runs to decrease their deficit to six. This prompted a pitching change from the Mocs, sending
Evan Mobley to the mound.
After failing to score in the eighth, the Mocs brought their total runs to 11 with one run. Safferwich got on base after being hit by a pitch and advanced to second as Berry was also hit. Safferwich scored, driven in by a single by Liquori to left field. At the end of the eighth, Berry and Liquori were left on base.
In the ninth,
Justin Stewart entered to close the game for the Mocs. After a strikeout and a ground out, a Florida Tech batter advanced all the way to third on a double and a wild pitch, scoring on another double down the left field line. The Panthers would not score again after another ground out to conclude the game with a final score of 11-5.
LeRoy was the winning pitcher, improving his record to 2-1 with two hits and no runs scored in five complete innings pitched.
This contest marks the end of the Mocs' time on the road for now, as they will return to Lakeland this weekend for an SSC series against Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Game one of the series against ERAU is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start on Friday, April 21 at Historic Henley Field.
