Mocs Shut Out #14 Argos in Season Opener; O'Dette Gets First Win at Helm of FSC

LAKELAND, Fla. – A new era of Florida Southern College baseball under new head coach Rick O'Dette opened with a 7-0 shutout of No. 14 University of West Florida on opening night at Henley Field.
 
The Moccasins (1-0) had 12 hits in the season opener win, the sixth-straight season having won the first game of the season. The Argonauts (0-1) kept the game scoreless in the first three innings but could not stop late hits in the fourth and seventh innings for the season-opening loss.
 
Florida Southern combined for 12 hits, with five in the lineup that had two hits: Grant Thoroman, Mikey Scott, Jorge Santana III, Wyatt Campbell, and Cory Filley. Thoroman and Santana each had a double and Santana added a triple for his second hit of the day for the extra-base hits. Sacrifice flies by Campbell and Rohsean Riley each brought in a run and Thoroman was the leader in RBI, with three. Sachem Ramos got the win for the Mocs after five innings of two hits, one walk, and six strikeouts. Casey O'Dell and Wyatt Clark each went two innings to end the night.
 
West Florida rattled off five hits, including a double by Brett Rowell. The Argos left five on base to FSC's seven with just a single walk taken. The loss went to Dalton Neuschwander, who struggled with 10 hits, four runs – all earned, and a walk. He was relieved by Grant Adams, who had two hits and three earned runs, preceding Caidan Peeples, who went one inning with no hits or runs.
 
The Mocs were first to score after three scoreless innings. With two outs in the bottom of the fourth, Filley singled, Jevin Relaford singled, followed by a walk for Cleary Simpson to load the bases. Thoroman had a deep double to center, just out of reach from the Argos, to bring all three baserunners for the 3-0 lead. FSC followed with a sac fly by Riley to score Santana in the fifth, with a triple by Santana in the seventh that brought in two runs, followed by a sac fly by Campbell for the seventh and final run of the night.
 
Game two of the three-day series will take place tomorrow, Feb. 1, with a 1 p.m. start time at Henley Field.
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