Box Score
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – A trio of pitchers combined on a four-hitter, seniors
Joe McLemore and
Joey LaRose provided the power surge and the Eckerd College baseball team ran roughshod past Ave Maria University on Monday night, 14-0.
The box score turned out to be a messy one as the Tritons (6-4, 0-0 SSC) pounded out 18 hits among a myriad of offensive and defensive substitutions from both sides in the latter stages.
Ave Maria ran out a total of six different pitchers without much success and replaced each position player on the field at least once.
EC starter
Jake Wilder (5 IP, 2 H, 5 K) picked up the winning decision,
Robbie Nabers tossed a perfect frame in middle relief and
Joey Cuda fanned seven in just three innings of work for the unconventional save.
All three were unhittable against the Gyrenes (6-10 overall) to team up for the four-hit shutout.
“We're showing that we're getting better and progressing as the season continues,” said EC Head Coach
Bill Mathews, who earned win No. 451 in his career. “I called on a lot of players to come off the bench cold and they produced when given that opportunity.”
McLemore began the offensive onslaught with a solo blast to lead off the top of the second, his third of the spring.
In the fourth inning,
Bryant Gibson laced a double to kick off a three-run frame, highlighted by a towering two-run shot to deep left field by LaRose on a 1-2 count. His second homer of the year scored McLemore, who reached on a walk.
Kevin Rea joined the hit parade with an RBI double to the left-center gap to score LaRose after he toed the left-field line with a one-out double in the sixth. Two errors on the same play plated another run and
Alex Del Monte made the Gyrenes pay with another RBI hit.
The Tritons poured it on with four more crossing the plate in the bottom half of the seventh as the reserves made their presence felt. Mirroring a line change in hockey, Ave Maria put in a fresh new defensive lineup in an attempt to switch things up in the seventh frame, but to no avail.
Keegan Oberer pounded a two-out run-scoring single through the left side of the infield to cap the four-run frame. In the eighth, freshman catcher Michael Abraham recorded his first collegiate hit and later scored on an RBI by
Audry Santana.
Anthony Pucci clobbered an RBI double also in the eighth to account for the final damage.
Wilder fanned two of the first three hitters he faced, setting the tone for a dominant outing. Cuda, coming of a nine-strikeout effort against Saint Leo University in his last start, punched out four hitters swinging and three looking in a rare relief spot.
The Tritons were supposed to face Palm Beach Atlantic University next for a three-game homestand, but that series has been pushed back to May 4-5 due to the funeral services of former Sailfish Head Coach Gary Carter.
Instead, Eckerd will be back on the diamond Feb. 28 at home against Saint Anselm (N.H.) College for a 7 p.m. game.
