Box Score
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Two of the Sunshine State Conference's finest hurlers,
Joey Cuda and Rick Teasley, went head-to-head on a breezy Tuesday evening as Saint Leo University topped the Eckerd College baseball program, 6-1.
The senior righty Cuda, untouchable through his first two starts for the Tritons (4-4, 0-0 SSC) against Warner University and Webber International University, found himself in unfamiliar territory and was tagged for four runs in the first two innings.
Cuda settled down to strike out nine in an eight-inning effort and pitched six consecutive scoreless innings to end his night. His earned run average still remains at a dominant 1.71 level.
Teasley, the Lions' (5-3, 0-0 SSC) crafty southpaw, mixed in a darting two-seam fastball and a deadly changeup as he logged a complete-game win with nine punchouts.
The Tritons manufactured one run off Teasley in the bottom of the sixth frame and senior
Bryant Gibson pulled a hanging slider that nearly left the park for a solo home run, but was flagged down at the warning track, possibly wind-aided.
Gibson gave the Tritons their lone run of the night with an RBI single, but Teasley worked his way out of trouble by inducing an inning-ending double play.
Saint Leo's Michael Revell used the right-to-left gusting winds in his favor, belting a solo home run in the top of the second inning over the left-field wall. He also laced a two-run double in the ninth to the right-center gap.
Already the school's all-time winningest manager, EC Head Coach
Bill Mathews was vying for win No. 450 in his iconic 22-year career. Mathews and the Tritons will look to pick up the historic victory on Thursday under the lights against Clearwater Christian College.
But it was Saint Leo who was swinging away early and often.
On the pitch of the game, Lions' leadoff man Ryan Brnovich went opposite field for a double and scored on another first-pitch swing, this time by cleanup hitter Zach Miller.
On yet another first-pitch swing sequence, Dustin Brown kept it going with a rocket down the left-field line for another RBI single before Brendan Collins gave SLU a 3-0 lead with a run-scoring groundout to short to cap the first-inning scoring.
Cuda settled in and bounced back with a perfect third inning, including a pair of strikeouts looking against Miller and Brown on full-count payoff pitches. He didn't allow a runner to reach past second base the rest of the night.
