Box Score
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Senior
Bryant Gibson capped a perfect 3-for-3 night at the plate by scoring the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning and a committee of eight different pitchers helped preserve victory for the Eckerd College baseball program against Saint Leo University on Tuesday night, 6-4.
The Tritons (16-28, 3-18 SSC) ended an 11-game skid and rebounded against the Lions (22-20, 5-13 SSC) after enduring a tough weekend series against second-ranked University of Tampa.
Even though the two teams had their three-game Sunshine State Conference series marred by weather conditions and was not re-scheduled, Eckerd and Saint Leo managed to meet for the second time this season in a non-conference matchup (Feb. 14).
Gibson was the catalyst to break a 4-4 standstill by lacing a double down the left-field line to lead off the eighth. He was pushed to third on a one-out single by
Kevin Rea and scored on a well-placed sacrifice fly by
Aaron Shapiro that made the score 5-4.
One batter later, senior
Dan Capra padded Eckerd's lead by driving in an insurance run with an RBI single, and made a great defensive sliding catch to rob a base hit and record the first out of the ninth.
Freshman southpaw Kevin Plant recorded an efficient four outs in 1 1/3 perfect innings pitched to record his first career win and senior
Johnny Lancaster nailed down the victory by inducing a game-ending 4-6-3 double play for his first save.
Eckerd jumped all over Saint Leo starter Ryan Sadler in their first series of plate appearances, putting up four runs on four hits in the bottom of the opening inning.
Seniors
Alex Del Monte and
David Regidor each legged out infield singles on high choppers to begin the game.
While Del Monte scored on a wild pitch that bounced high in front of catcher Daniel Torres, Regidor scored on an infield single by Gibson for a 2-0 cushion.
Still in the first inning, Rea drove a pitch from Sadler into the left-field wall for a two-run double with two outs. With the wind blowing hard from right-to-left, Rea threatened to leave the park, but settled to score Gibson and senior
Joey LaRose.
Gibson also singled to center, drew a walk and stole his 14th base of the season in a busy night on the basepaths. He also recorded all three outs in the top half of the eighth, all on flyouts.
Despite the Tritons holding a four-run edge, Saint Leo chipped away with runs in the second and fifth innings to eventually tie things up after a two-out RBI single by Dillon Vitale that found a gap into shallow center.
Both teams recorded 10 hits apiece.
The Tritons will look to close out the regular season strong by hosting Palm Beach Atlantic University for a three-game set on Friday and Saturday. Friday's game will feature a ceremonial first pitch in commemoration of Eckerd's first groundskeeper, Carl “Swede” Froid, while Saturday's festivities include Senior Day recognition.
