ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Eckerd College baseball team capped off a historical season and said a sentimental farewell to longtime coaching maestro
Bill Mathews by clinching a Sunshine State Conference series over No. 18 Florida Southern College
on Sunday at the Turley Athletic Complex.
The Tritons (27-22, 11-13 SSC) split today's doubleheader, falling 4-0 in the opener before winning 3-2. Eckerd won two of the three games over the Moccasins (32-17, 14-10 SSC), representing the first series victory against FSC in Mathews' 24-year career.
Eckerd also picked up Sunshine State Conference series wins over No. 25 Nova Southeastern University, No. 6 Florida Tech and Rollins College, this season.
The Tritons' series win over No. 25 Nova Southeastern University was Eckerd's first since the Sharks joined the SSC. Taking two of three from Florida Tech, the Tritons snapped a 13-game head-to-head run against the Panthers, and their three-game sweep of the Tars was Eckerd's first three-game conference sweep since 2002.
EC's 11 conference wins were also the most in a single season in 15 years.
Following the doubleheader, friends, family, colleagues and players from past and present gathered at Eckerd's GO Pavilion to celebrate Mathew's storied career.
"The decision to do something else, the decision to stop coaching was a decision that I made," said Mathews as he addressed the crowd. "Not many people get to do that in this profession. Not many people last 24 years in one place."
Just two weeks prior, Mathews collected his 500th win in a come-from-behind triumph over Palm Beach Atlantic University to join elite company among NCAA Division II coaches.
Today's win represented No. 504 for Mathews. The veteran coach will remain on the athletics staff in an administrative role and will continue teaching as a professor.
Game 1 – No. 18 Florida Southern 4, Eckerd 0Senior right-hander Brian Johnson (5-3) tossed three-hit complete-game shutout in the opener.
FSC generated two runs in both the first and seventh innings.
Nick Hill tossed five consecutive scoreless innings in relief of left-handed senior starter
Richard Kowalski.
Mike Abraham,
Chris Hanson and
Grant Banko each singled for Eckerd, while Keith Curcio, Casey Eddinger and Withrow each collected two hits for Florida Southern.
Game 2 - Eckerd 3, No. 18 Florida Southern 2Down to their final six outs of the season, Eckerd trailed Florida Southern by two runs before writing an appropriate script to conclude a historical day with a three-run rally in the sixth inning.
Seniors
Shane Bishop and
Chris Hanson singled before
Mike Abraham was hit by a pitch to load up the bases.
A double play brought in the first run, sophomore
Matt MacMahon provided and RBI single to tie the game at two, and junior
James Petika delivered the game-winning single to center field as
Jake O'Rourke scored from second base.
EC workhorse
Jimmy Gutowski returned to the mound in the seventh and retired the side with a strike out and two groundouts.
"I had to do it for Skip, and I had to do it for the seniors," Gutowski said. "I couldn't let them [teammates] come back and then give it away. This was the one for all the seniors, and Skip had to go out on top."
Gutowski (11-2) tallied his seventh complete game of the season and fanned six in the win. The right-hander is the first pitcher to reach 11 wins in a single season since 1984.
"Once the season started I took a step back and said, 'I'm going to do this for the guys who are behind me,'" Gutowski added. " I played my heart out for them every game, and they backed me up every game and 11 wins came out of it. It was about sacrificing things, and I wanted to make that as a team we would succeed, not just individually, and I think that was the biggest part."
