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State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota
Baseball Takes Late Rally Over HCC
April 15, 2025

Baseball Takes Late Rally Over HCC

Tampa, Fla - A late rally in the ninth inning helped the RV SCF baseball team (31-16, 17-10 Citrus) take home another non-conference win over a non-conference opponent as they defeated Hillsborough (17-27, 9-18 Citrus) 5-3 at the Himes Complex in Tampa.

 
"It's always nice to get a win on the road," said head coach Tim Hill II. "I thought the guys played pretty well, even though both teams left a lot on base. Despite that, Holden (Brauner) came in with a big hit in the ninth when we needed it. I'm looking forward to our series against Eastern Florida State."
 
"I thought we played well defensively," said sophomore Duke McCarron. "We also got the job done when it mattered on offense."
 
"We faced some adversity early on," said freshman Dominic Donatucci. "Nevertheless, we were able to battle back and move past our mistakes. All pitchers had a great mentality on the mound and it really showed today."
 
Hill II sent sophomore Gavyn Bowen (2-0, 7.54 ERA) to the mound, while Hillsborough head coach Raydon Leaton went with redshirt freshman Luke Jackson (0-0, 1.35 ERA) to counter.
 
After the first inning went scoreless, the Hawks would score first in the bottom of the second after a sacrifice fly by sophomore Andre Trinchese before increasing the lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth on a Manatee fielding error. 
 
The Manatees would back respond at the top of the fifth beginning with a leadoff walk by freshman Will Rawls and a single by Donatucci before the Hawks sent freshman Brayden McCluskey to the mound. After the pitching change, Rawls would score on a failed pickoff attempt while Donatucci moved to third on the same attempt. Freshman Myles Davis would then draw a walk before Donatucci scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-2. 
 
The Hawks would retake the lead to 3-2 in the bottom half of the inning after an RBI groundout by Trinchese before McCarron came in for Bowen to close the fifth. After a scoreless sixth inning, the Manatees would tie the game at 3-3 after freshman Ben Ryan brought in Donatucci at top of the seventh.
 
After the eighth inning went scoreless, the Manatees would rally at the top of the ninth beginning with a one-out single by sophomore Allan Gil Fernandez. One batter later, classmate Mario Trivella would get hit by a pitch, freshman Holden Brauner would send a single to right to bring in Gil Fernandez before Trivella scored on a fielding error to make it 5-3 SCF and seal the win.
 
Bowen and Jackson would each earn a no-decision in their starts. Bowen gave up three runs (one earned) on seven hits with four walks and one strikeouts in four and two-thirds innings, while Jackson threw three scoreless inning with three hits in three innings.
 
McCarron would improve to 2-1 after throwing four scoreless innings of relied with three hits and three strikeouts, while freshman Austin Monahan secured his first save after throwing one-third of a scoreless inning of relief.
 
"I felt good on the mound," said McCarron. "I just went out there ready to compete with the guy in front of me and have fun."
 
"It was good to see Duke throw very well today," said Hill II on McCarron. "He has really good stuff and we need him to throw like that against our conference opponents."
 
Sophomore Luke Fikar, who started at second base before coming in to pitch, would fall to 1-4 after giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits in one and two-thirds innings. He was also 2-for-5 at the plate with a stolen base.
 
Donatucci would lead the way in hitting as he went 4-for-4 with two runs and stolen base.
 
"I felt very comfortable coming into today," said Donatucci. "Understanding that it's just another day playing the game I love. Everyone on this squad has worked very hard all year and there is no doubt that each and every guy can produce consistently day in and day out."
 
"Dominic had a good day," said Hill II on Donatucci. "He's a really good player and did some nice things offensively and defensively today."
 
Gil Fernandez would round out the order going 2-for-4 with a run and a walk. Davis (1-for-4, one walk), Trivella (1-for-4, one run), Brauner (1-for-2, one RBI and one walk) and freshman Bernard Barnes (1-for-5) had the remaining hits.
 
For the Hawks, aside from Fikar, Matos, sophomore Blake Opie and freshman Zachariah Walker each had two hits in the game.
 

Citrus Conference Standings:

1. #7 Indian River State (30-11, 20-7)

2. #10 Florida Southwestern (34-11, 19-8)

3. RV SCF (31-16, 17-10)

4. #22 Central Florida (31-13, 16-11)

5. Eastern Florida State (26-18, 14-13)

6. Miami Dade (25-19, 14-13) 

7. Seminole State College of Florida (25-20, 13-14)

8. Polk State (26-23, 13-14)

9. Santa Fe (20-24, 11-16)

10. Daytona State (12-26, 10-17)

11. Hillsborough (17-27, 9-18)

12. St. Pete (9-33, 6-21)

Up Next:

The Manatees will set their focus on Eastern Florida State (26-18, 14-13 Citrus) for their next Citrus Confrrence series. Game one will take place at Bruce Bochy Field in Melbourne Thursday night, April 17 at 6 pm and games two and three will take place at Wynn Field Saturday afternoon, April 19 at 1 and 4 pm.

Box Score