Box Score
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Matt Fuglesang hurled 6 2/3 scoreless innings and was backed up by a three-RBI effort by Mike Snyder as Florida Southern College handed the Eckerd College baseball team a defeat in its Sunshine State Conference home opener on Friday night, 8-1.
The Tritons (11-9, 0-4 SSC) loaded the bases twice, but were unable to do any damage against the Mocs (13-9, 4-3 SSC) as FSC pounded out 14 hits and slowed down the EC offense by inducing an unusual amount of popups.
Fuglesang kept the ball within the confines of the Turley Athletic Complex and finished with 11 flyouts versus zero groundouts. He also struck out eight and was effectively wild, issuing five walks and scattering five hits.
Snyder came through with a two-run, two-out single up the middle in the top of the eighth inning.
Eckerd starter
Jake Wilder cruised through his first two frames of work on the hill before back-to-back hits to start the third frame led to a Florida Southern run on a sacrifice fly for the first tally.
The Tritons loaded up the bases with just one out in the fifth against Fuglesang, but the Moc winner was bailed out by consecutive fly outs to right field to end the jam.
EC also stranded three runners on base in the seventh, but reliever Mike Sczenszak fanned the only hitter he saw on the night to escape any damage.
At one point, the Tritons threw 12 straight balls and had troubles finding the zone that led to eight walks in the game.
Wilder was relieved by five other pitchers in the effort.
Senior catcher
Aaron Shapiro recorded three of the Tritons' six hits on the night and helped produce a run in the ninth by leading the inning off with a sharp single that toed the right-field foul line.
Audry Santana came around to score on a throwing error at second base that would have ended the game.
Shortstop
Alex Del Monte recorded a pair of singles at the top of the order.
The Tritons will look to bounce back against Florida Southern with a St. Patrick's Day doubleheader edition against the Mocs with a 1 p.m. start at the Turley Athletic Complex.
Live stats and live video (no audio due to staffing) will be available for both games.
