LAKELAND, Fla. – The Florida Southern College baseball team fell 12-6 to Embry-Riddle Friday night to open the Sunshine State Conference series on GMF Steel night at Henley Field.
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Florida Southern (27-12, 12-7 SSC) scattered 13 hits in the loss, where eight of the nine players in the starting lineup had a hit including five with two hits.
Grady Maguire,
Bryce Safferwich,
Ahmad Fitts,
Rohsean Riley, and
Jevin Relaford all tallied a pair of hits in their plate appearances. Offensively, Relaford led the charge with a pair of runs driven in while also scoring two runs with one of the Mocs' two extra-base hits;
Drew Cavanaugh's solo homerun in the bottom of the eighth.
The Mocs' pitching staff, comprised of
Nathan Madej,
Evan Mobley,
Christian Suarez,
Jake Curry, and
Tommy Turkett, combined for eight strikeouts on the night.Â
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The Eagles (20-19, 8-14 SSC) jumped on the Mocs early with eight runs in the top of the second, a lead they would not relinquish. After two scoreless frames in the third and fourth, Florida Southern answered with four runs to cut the deficit in half in the fifth inning.
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Ahmad Fitts started the inning off with a single to the pitcher before advancing to second on a wild pitch, to put the Mocs first run in scoring position with no outs.
Mitch Donofrio continued the chain of base hits with a single through the left side before
Rohsean Riley's single and
Jevin Relaford's double down the left field made the game 8-3.
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Grady Maguire followed the three straight hits with a base knock of his own to left center scoring Relaford. The Eagles ended the run with three putouts by the shortstop.
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Embry-Riddle would add two more in each of the seventh and eighth innings while the Mocs scored one in the bottom half of the eighth thanks to a Cavanaugh's solo homerun, 12-5.
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Relaford started the ninth off with a one-out single followed by a Maguire single through the left side, putting runners on the corners with one out for the Mocs.
D'Ante Starks would drive in what would be the game's final run, reaching on a fielder's choice with a grounder to third, scoring Relaford. The Mocs would strand one on in the bottom of the ninth as the game ended in favor of the visiting Eagles, 12-6.
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Florida Southern and Embry-Riddle return to action Saturday at 4 p.m. for the second game and close the series Sunday at 2 p.m.
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