Baseball Slays Miami Dade

Bradenton, Fla - Two big home runs from freshman Ben Ryan and sophomore Luke Boykin helped pave the way for the SCF baseball team (19-9, 8-5 Citrus) in another high-scoring game as they defeated Miami Dade (12-14, 5-8 Citrus) 13-12 at Wynn Field. It was the Manatees' first win over Miami Dade since January 28, 2023.

"This win was a big conference win for us tonight," said head coach Tim Hill II. "Although we did not play well defensively and our pitching was not very well, we did swing the bats pretty well, so we're looking to play better defense and get two quality starts out of Lochlan (Radloff) and Oscar (Hernandez) this weekend."

Hill II sent sophomore Landon O'Donnell (0-2, 6.65 ERA) to the mound, while Miami Dade head coach Lazaro Llanes went with freshman Jose Villegas (0-0, 3.21 ERA) to counter.

SCF would get on the board first in the bottom of the first as sophomore Mario Trivella would line a single to left to bring in classmate Allan Gil-Fernandez. The Sharks would then respond at the top of the second after freshman Willy Mendez hit an RBI single to tie the game at 1-1. One inning later, the Sharks would take the lead after a two-run double by sophomore Michael Petite and a two-run single by freshman Talan Beckford made it 5-1 Miami Dade. After a walk, Hill II would pull O'Donnell and send freshman Aidan Ray (1-0, 2.67 ERA) to the mound where he would get out of the third.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Manatees would put together a rally beginning with a Trivella bunt single and him reaching second on a throwing error before moving to third on a balk. After freshman Holden Brauner drew a walk, Ryan would bring in Trivella with a sacrifice fly to center before sophomore Hayden Gustavson hit a single. After freshman Bernard Barnes drew a walk to load the bases, redshirt sophomore Connor O'Sullivan would send a single past the second baseman and bring in Brauner and Gustavson to cut the Sharks' lead to 5-4 before Llanes pulled Villegas and sent freshman Jeffred Fermin to the mound.

After the pitching change, freshman Mattie Counts would line a single to left to bring in Barnes and tie the game at 5-5. Following Gil Fernandez getting hit by a pitch to reload the bases, Llanes would send freshman Luke Helms to replace Fermin. The Manatees would bat around as Trivella would hit a single to left to bring in O'Sullivan and give the Manatees the lead before Brauner sent an infield single to the shortstop to bring in Counts and Gil Fernandez to make it 8-5 SCF.

The Sharks would tie the game at 8-8 at the top of the fifth after a solo home run by Petite (fifth of the season) and an RBI single by redshirt freshman Matthew Say before taking the lead one inning later after an RBI single by Mendez. The Manatees would respond in the bottom of the sixth after a two-run homer by Ryan brought in Trivella for his third of the season to give the Manatees a 10-9 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Manatees would extend their leading beginning with a leadoff solo home run by Boykin for his fifth of the season. After O'Sullivan (hit by a pitch), Counts (single) and Gil Fernandez (intentional walk) loaded the bases, Trivella would draw a walk to bring in O'Sullivan before Brauner would hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Counts to make it 13-9 SCF.

The Sharks would try to rally back at the top of the eighth after RBI singles by Beckford and Mendez, but it would be all they could produce as the Manatees sealed the victory.

O'Donnell and Villegas would both earn no-decisions in their starts. O'Donnell gave up five runs on five hits with three walks and one strikeout in two and two-thirds innings, while Villegas gave up six runs (five earned) on six hits with three walks and three strikeouts in three and two-thirds innings.

Ray would improve to 2-0 after giving up four runs (three earned) on seven hits with one walk and four strikeouts in four and a third innings of relief. Sophomore Daniel Hartley would earn his second save after throwing one and a third scoreless innings of relief with one hit and three strikeouts, while redshirt freshman Cole Dement gave up three runs on three hits with one walk and two strikeouts in two-thirds of an inning.

Sophomore Enrique Sierra would fall to 1-1 after giving up five runs on five hits with two walks and three strikeouts in three and a third innings of relief.

Four Manatees would have a multi-hit game. It was Trivella that lead the way offensively as he went 3-for-3 with three RBI, two runs, one walk and stolen base. Boykin would follow going 3-for-5 with a home run. 

Counts (2-for-4) and Gustavson (2-for-5) rounded out the order with two hits each. Counts added two runs, one RBI and one walk, while Gustavson added one run.

Ryan (1-for-4, one home run and three RBI), Gil Fernandez (1-for-3, two runs and one walk), Brauner (1-for-3, two RBI, one run and one walk) and O'Sullivan (1-for-3, one run and two RBI) had the remaining four hits.

For the Sharks, Petite lead the way in hitting as he went 5-for-5 with three RBI and five runs. Beckford followed going 4-for-6 with two RBI and two runs, while Mendez lead the way in RBI as he went 3-for-3 with four RBI and two runs.

Other Citrus Conference Scores:

Daytona State (7-17, 5-8 Citrus) 12, Hillsborough (11-14, 5-8 Citrus) 2 (five innings)

#10 Indian River State (19-7, 9-4 Citrus) 7, St. Pete (3-23, 1-12 Citrus) 6

Eastern Florida State (17-10, 7-6 Citrus) 9, Santa Fe (12-16, 5-8 Citrus) 6

#6 Florida Southwestern (22-6, 9-4 Citrus) 6, Seminole State College of Florida (17-11, 7-6 Citrus) 0

#17 College of Central Florida (21-6, 8-5 Citrus) 10, RV Polk State (18-12, 9-4 Citrus) 4

Citrus Conference Standings:

1. #6 Florida Southwestern (22-6, 9-4)

2. #10 Indian River State (19-7, 9-4)

3. RV Polk State (18-12, 9-4)

4. #17 College of Central Florida (21-6, 8-5)

5. SCF (19-9, 8-5)

6. Eastern Florida State (17-10, 7-6)

7. Seminole State College of Florida (17-11, 7-6)

8. Miami Dade (12-14, 5-8)

9. Hillsborough (11-14, 5-8)

10. Santa Fe (12-16, 5-8)

11. Daytona State (7-17, 5-8)

12. St. Pete (3-23, 1-12)

Up Next:

The Manatees will look to take the series against Miami Dade in a doubleheader Saturday afternoon, March 15 at 1 and 4 pm at the Kendall Campus Baseball Field. Freshman Lochlan Radloff (4-1, 2.58 ERA) will pitch the first game, while sophomore Oscar Hernandez (4-2, 2.56 ERA) will pitch the second.