Baseball Takes Down St. Pete

The Manatees would open on the board first at the top of the first. After sophomores CJ Richard (walk) and Allan Gil Fernandez (walk) and freshman Mattie Counts (walk) loaded the bases, freshman Ben Ryan would hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Richard before classmate Holden Brauner drove a single to center to bring in Counts. After sophomore Hayden Gustavson reached base on a fielder's choice, Gil Fernandez would score on a balk before sophomore Mario Trivella brought in Brauner with an RBI groundout to make it 4-0 SCF.

The Titans would then take a 6-4 lead in the bottom of the second after RBI singles by Esteban Olivares, Logan Zavala, Mel Rubiera, Drew Pynes and Lenin Nunez.

For the next two innings, it would remain the Titans' lead until the top of the fifth beginning with a leadoff single by Counts. After stealing second, Ryan would send a double to right and bring in Counts. After Gustavson drew a two-out walk, Trivella would chip a double to left and bring in Ryan and Gustavson give the Manatees a 7-6 lead before being tagged out at second.

The Manatees would extend their lead to 8-6 at the top of the seventh as Brauner would bring Counts in with a sacrifice fly. The following inning, they would add their final runs on the board. After redshirt sophomore Connor O'Sullivan reached base on a fielding error and freshman Clayton Evans hit a single, O'Sullivan would score on a failed pickoff attempt before Counts hit an infield single to the shortstop to bring in Evans. After Gil Fernandez and Ryan drew back-to-back walks, Brauner would draw a walk and bring in Counts for an 11-6 lead.

The Titans would go for one more gasp of offense in the bottom of the eighth after an RBI single by Jose Rangel, an RBI groundout by Nunez and Pynes getting hit by a pitch, but it would be all they could produce as the Manatees sealed the victory.

Bowen and Keltz would both earn a no-decision. Bowen gave up six runs on eight hits with one walk and one strikeout in two innings, while Keltz gave up four runs on two hits with five walks and one strikeout in three innings.

McCarron would earn his first collegiate win after throwing one scoreless inning of relief with two strikeouts, while freshman Bernard Barnes earned his first collegiate save after throwing one and two-thirds scoreless innings of relief with one hit and one strikeout.

"Feels great to get my first win," said McCarron. I always try and do my best for my teammates behind me and it just so happened to get the win in a great team effort.

Emilion Rodriguez would fall to 1-1 after giving up three runs on three hits with one walk and four strikeouts in two innings of relief.

Counts would lead the way in hitting as he went 3-for-4 with four runs, one RBI, one walk and two stolen bases, while Trivella (2-for-5) and Brauner (1-for-2) lead the offense with three RBI.

Gil Fernandez (1-for-2, one run and three walks), Ryan (1-for-3, two RBI, one run and one walk; one-third of an inning of relief with one strikeout), Gustavson (1-for-4, one run and one walk) and Evans (1-for-5, one run) had the remaining four hits, while sophomores Frank Villella (one inning of relief with three strikeouts) and Daniel Hartley (one inning of relief with two strikeouts), redshirt freshman Cole Dement (one inning of relief with three strikeouts) and freshman James Kleiven (one inning of relief with two strikeouts) contributed on the mound.

Rangel lead the Titans in hitting as he went 3-for-5 with an RBI and was one of five Titans with a multi-hit game.

Other Citrus Conference Scores:

Seminole State College of Florida (15-8, 5-4 Citrus) defeated Jackson College (1-5) 8-5.

Citrus Conference Standings:

1. #7 Central Florida (17-4, 6-3)

2. #11 Florida Southwestern (16-5-1, 6-3)

3. #13 Indian River State (15-6, 6-3)

4. SCF (16-7, 6-3)

5. Polk State (14-11, 6-3)

6. Seminole State College of Florida (15-8, 5-4)

7. Eastern Florida State (14-8, 5-4)

8. Hillsborough (10-10, 5-4)

9. Santa Fe (11-12, 4-5)

10. Miami Dade (9-12, 3-6)

11. St. Pete (3-17-1, 1-8)

12. Daytona State (3-16, 1-8)

Up Next:

The Manatees return to conference play as they face #11 Florida Southwestern (16-5-1, 6-3 Citrus) for their next series. Game one will take place at Wynn Field Thursday night, March 6 at 6 pm while games two and three will take place at Buccaneers Park in Fort Myers Saturday afternoon, March 8 at 12 and 3 pm.