Homers and Late Rally By #12 Mocs Lead to 13-8 Victory Over the Sand Sharks

LAKELAND, Fla. – Three homers and an epic seventh and eighth-inning rally led the No. 12 Florida Southern College baseball team to a 13-8 victory over the University of South Carolina Beaufort on Saturday afternoon at Henley Field. 
 
The Moccasins (8-1) were down 8-3 in the seventh inning, eventually taking the lead off big seventh and eighth innings. The Sand Sharks (2-8) had a productive fourth and sixth inning to take a five-run lead but were unable to stop the Mocs late.
 
Florida Southern had another big day from Ahmad Fitts, who was a triple shy of a cycle, finishing 3-of-5 with four RBI. Grant Thoroman stole another four bases today, matching yesterday's feat, and added two hits and two RBI in the win. Rohsean Riley and Cory Filley each had a home run to make it to three home runs by the team. Riley finished with three hits to match Fitts and two RBI. Other Moccasins with hits included Mikey Scott for a triple, and singles by Chris McKenna and Noah Rabin, finishing with 12 hits as a team.
 
Brandon Jung made his third start of the season and went 5.2 innings pitched and five earned runs. He was relieved by Ty Bradle who faced three batters, giving up a few walks. BJ Rivera then took the mound and went 2.1 innings pitched for his first win of the season. He allowed just one hit and no runs with two strikeouts. Wyatt Clark pitched the final inning, allowing no runs to seal the 13-8 win.
 
USC Beaufort matched the 12 hits by the Mocs today, even capitalizing on three errors by FSC, but could not stop the Mocs in the final innings. The Sand Sharks were led by Jon Davis with three hits, including two doubles. Carson Weathers had three hits as well, with Cooper McDaniel the final player with a multi-hit day. On the mound, Joe Turner had the start and went six innings and five strikeouts. He was relieved by Brayton Wilmes, who was handed the loss allowing four runs to score. Ian Barnes and Ty Siksta pitched the final few innings, Barnes having allowed four runs to score.
 
After a scoreless first inning, FSC was the first to score with a solo homer by Fitts, his fourth of the season. Rabin then had a sacrifice fly to send Duffy home, followed by a solo homer by Filley to left field to go up 3-0 through two innings. The Mocs couldn't score over the next few innings, while the Sand Sharks had a big fourth inning to score five runs, including back-to-back two RBI doubles, to make it a 5-3 USCB lead in the fifth inning. 
 
The Sand Sharks extended their lead to five runs after a two RBI single and bases loaded walk with two outs in the top of the sixth inning, 8-3. After four scoreless innings, FSC had a major seventh inning led by a solo homer by Riley, a two RBI triple by Scott, RBI single by Thoroman, an RBI single by Fitts, and finally an RBI single by Riley after flipping the order to take the lead 9-8. FSC duplicated the run in the seventh innings with four runs in the eighth inning to take a 13-8 lead into the final frame. Clark had the pitching duties in the ninth and held on for a 13-8 win and final score. 
 
The Mocs wrap up their series against the Sand Sharks tomorrow, Feb. 16, with an 11 a.m. start at Henley Field, a change from the previously scheduled 1 p.m. game start. 
 
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