ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd baseball team faces a tough task in its final home weekend of the season as the Tritons host defending national champion and second-ranked University of Tampa for a three-game series.
GAMES 40-42: No. 2 Tampa (36-7, 15-3 SSC) at Eckerd (16-23, 4-14 SSC)
Friday 6:00 PM | Saturday 1:00 PM (DH)
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS: Jack Silberman (0-6. 7.88 ERA) | TBA | TBA
SENIOR SERIES: This weekend marks the final home series for a class of 11 Triton seniors:
Nick Hill,
Jake O'Rourke,
Grant Banko,
Matt MacMahon,
Carter Cashman,
Kevin Plant,
Zach Hoppe,
Jack Silberman,
Taylor Owens,
Matt Mullins and
Mike Eagan. Silberman is scheduled to get the start on the mound in Friday's opener.
KING OF THE HILL: Hill enters the final two weekends of the season as one of the top hitters in the Sunshine State Conference. His .424 batting average is currently third-best in the conference and puts him on pace for the second-highest season average in Eckerd program history. Hill leads the team in multi-hit games with 18 and had a 12-game hitting streak earlier in the season.
COMEBACK KIDS: The Tritons hope to carry over the momentum of what happened in their last game after scoring six times in the top of the ninth inning to pick up a 10-9 win at Saint Leo. Eckerd got RBIs from Banko,
Tyler Koser,
Justin Glover, and
Garrett Hiott in the inning while Eagan stranded the winning run on base in the bottom of the frame.
SET THE TABLE: Banko and Hiott both enter the weekend with lengthy on-base streaks. Banko has reached base in 15 straight games while Hiott has done it in 11 straight.
