Mocs Minutes: Baseball Travels to Florida Tech

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Opponent: Florida Tech
Dates | Times: May 7, 2023 | 1:00 & 4:00 PM DH / May 8, 2023 | 1:00 PM
Location: Melbourne, Fla. | Andy Seminick-Les Hall Field
Records: Florida Southern 29-12, 14-7 SSC | #9 Rollins 28-12, 17-4 SSC
Florida Southern will travel to Melbourne on the last road series of the regular season. The Mocs are off a conference series in which they were swept by No. 9 Rollins last weekend in a difficult weekend at home. In game one, FSC gave up four homers and a late rally, falling short in an 8-5 loss. Game two had a similar disappointing end with a tie game into the ninth but a 10-run T9 by the Tars gave the game away. Despite equal at 20 hits apiece, the Mocs lost 24-16 in game three with a tough end to the series.
Despite the losing series, the Mocs continue to perform well at the plate with a .319 batting average as a team, led by Bryce Safferwich with a .406. He has 73 hits this season, top 32 in the nation, and has a 1.78 hits per game average that is top five among DII batters. Five of the top 10 home run leaders in the conference come from Florida Southern, despite not having a single homer in the last five games. Drew Cavanaugh leads the team with 12 shots deep and carries a .327 average. Connor Berry has a team-high 37 straight games having reached base, and a 12-game hit streak.
On the mound, the Mocs dipped in overall ERA to 5.70 during last week's series. FSC struggled at the mound with seven homers, seven HBP, and 26 walks. Aric McAtee leads the starters with a 3.71 ERA, and Nathan Madej has a team-high 84 strikeouts so far this season. During the Rollins series, Kerry Wright continued to make his presence known with his 13th straight appearance not allowing a run.
Florida Tech will host the Mocs in its last home series of the regular season after a losing series against Palm Beach Atlantic last week. A sac fly in the first game was the only score for the Panthers in the 7-1 loss and a 23-11 battle in game two with a combined five home runs. The series finale ended early due to time constraints, but not before the Mocs gathered an 8-6 lead, which would be the final.
As a team, the Panthers are batting .281 with Jason Blackstone and Josh Ford each above .300. In half of the contests, Gavin McGowan is a .338 batter. FIT is led in homers by Cole Patrick with six and Alec Eldridge has a team-high 34 RBI. From the mound, the Panthers have a 6.10 ERA and an opposing batting average of .288. Danny Vassallo has six starts in 15 appearances with a 3.45 ERA and Mitch Harding and Dylan Cleveland are both above 6.00. As a team, Panthers have given up 32 home runs.
HISTORY: Mocs have a 110-36 overall record against the Panthers, having won the last four games. FSC has played FIT two times already this season in midweek non-conference matchups, winning both. Mocs won 17-7 at home with homers by Jeff Liquori, Mitch Donofrio, and Cavanaugh. The next game, the Mocs won 11-5 on the road with another homer by Liquori.

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Players Mentioned

#30 Connor Berry: UTIL; 6' 2"; Senior; R/R

#6 Jeff Liquori: LHP/1B; 6' 1"; Junior; L/L

#33 Nathan Madej: LHP; 6' 1"; Graduate Student; L/L

#34 Aric McAtee: RHP; 6' 5"; Senior; R/R

#3 Mitch Donofrio: 3B/2B; 5' 10"; Graduate Student; R/R

#8 Bryce Safferwich: INF/OF; 6' 0"; Sophomore; R/R

#27 Drew Cavanaugh: C; 6' 0"; Sophomore; L/R

#19 Kerry Wright: RHP; 6' 4"; Senior; R/R

Players Mentioned

#30 Connor Berry
: 6' 2"; Senior; R/R
: UTIL

#6 Jeff Liquori
: 6' 1"; Junior; L/L
: LHP/1B

#33 Nathan Madej
: 6' 1"; Graduate Student; L/L
: LHP

#34 Aric McAtee
: 6' 5"; Senior; R/R
: RHP

#3 Mitch Donofrio
: 5' 10"; Graduate Student; R/R
: 3B/2B

#8 Bryce Safferwich
: 6' 0"; Sophomore; R/R
: INF/OF

#27 Drew Cavanaugh
: 6' 0"; Sophomore; L/R
: C

#19 Kerry Wright
: 6' 4"; Senior; R/R
: RHP

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