Box Score
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Center fielder David Johannessen homered and drove in three runs, starting pitcher Jason Boyer fanned 15 in seven strong innings and Florida Tech handed the Eckerd College baseball program a tough loss to begin Sunshine State Conference play on Friday night, 11-5.
The 3 hour 36-minute affair went deep into the night to kick off Family Weekend on campus as the Tritons (5-5, 0-1 SSC) made their final stand with a strong showing in the bottom of the ninth inning with three runs.
The Panthers (9-3, 3-1 SSC) took the first of a three-game conference series after opening league play against Barry University last weekend.
Boyer struck out the side in order in the third and made it five straight with two more batters retired on strikes to begin the fourth. Senior
Lee Spinelle spoiled the crafty lefty's no-hit bid with a two-out single in the fourth.
The Florida Tech ace was mired in a pitcher's duel against EC freshman southpaw
Andrew Pierson for the first three innings. Each starter traded pitched three scoreless frames to begin their night before the Panthers struck first in the fourth.
Pierson was dealing early, spotting up in the zone to strike out a pair of Panthers looking in a strong second inning. He retired six straight hitters in his third start of the spring.
Johannessen drove the first pitch of the fourth inning over the center field wall for a solo home run, his second of the season. The inning was compounded on a throwing error from home plate on a stolen base try and a bases-loaded walk.
Free passes were again problematic for the EC pitching staff as 10 walks were issued and four more hitters reached base after being hit with a pitch.
Eckerd used a committee of six different pitchers in an attempt to slow down Florida Tech's offensive attack. Junior Richard Cruz- Sanchez and freshman
Zach Hoppe each went 1 2/3 innings in relief while senior
Joe Clagg, freshman
Nick Hill and freshman
Matt Mullins, all appeared from the pen.
For both sides, fly balls were an adventure in the outfield, particularly in right. Numerous pop-ups in flight were lost in the lights and overrun or completely missed in pursuit.
Trailing 11-2 in the ninth, junior
A.J. Witkowski drove in two runs with a pinch-hit double to deep right field, scoring
Eric Foster and
James Petika, who reached on a walk and hit by pitch.
Junior
Mike Vavasis matched Witkowski's double with two RBI of his own on a line drive to the left-center gap in the sixth inning off Boyer, tagging him for runs in the form of Spinelle and freshman
Rowdy Andrews.
Boyer's pitch count swelled past 120 total before he was picked up in relief by Jerrod Leinhauser to begin the eighth inning.
EC junior
Tyler Abadal capped the scoring in the ninth with an RBI grounder on the infield that plated junior
Audry Santana.
The Tritons and Panthers will meet again tomorrow afternoon at the Turley Athletic Complex for a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. A free live audio broadcast will be available due to equipment shortages.
