Box Score ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Looking to extend its winning streak to six, the Eckerd baseball team hosted the Ave Maria (Fla.) Gyrenes for the second time this season on Wednesday. The Tritons were unable to avenge a February 17 loss to the Gyrenes, falling 4-2.
Ave Maria (17-31) took an early lead as Connor Sullivan drove in a run in the first inning with a two-out double. Zack Rose (2-2) quickly settled into his start for the Gyrenes and held EC (14-18) scoreless through 7.1 innings before getting relieved by Jesse Crosno. With two runners on and one out, the Tritons were unable to cut into the deficit that had since been extended to 4-0.
A three-up, three-down ninth inning performance from
Joey Favetta set up Eckerd for one last chance to rally.
Nick Conti placed early pressure on Crosno by reaching on an error by Gyrene shortstop RJ Warnock to lead off the inning.
Garrett Hiott then drew a five-pitch walk in a pinch-hit situation. Also pinch-hitting,
Justin Glover followed with an RBI double down the right field line to put the Tritons on the board with the top of the lineup at the plate.
However, AVU brought in Justin Bureau (8 saves) in the save situation. Bureau quickly struck out his first two batters, but
Nick Hill stepped to the plate.
Hill came to bat with a perfect 3-for-3 night with three standing doubles to the opposite field and a hit-by-pitch. Bureau did not throw a hitable pitch for Hill as he took a walk on four straight pitches, loading the bases for
Mitchell Calandra. Calandra drew four straight balls of his own, scoring Hiott, but Bureau forced
Grant Banko into a groundout to first to end the game.
Ben Deaver (0-1) took the loss after surrendering two hits and one run in the opening inning. The Tritons used nine pitchers in the game, with each working one inning.
Eckerd returns to action with a weekend series against Lynn University with three Sunshine State Conference contests on the line. Game one is set for Friday at 6:00 PM from the Turley Athletic Complex followed by a double header on Saturday starting at 1:00 PM.
