Tritons Explode in Finale to Split Twinbill With Saint Leo

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd baseball team avoided a series sweep by exploding for 16 runs in the final game of a weekend series with Saint Leo, taking the nightcap of a Friday doubleheader, 16-6, after seeing a lead slip away in a 12-8 loss in 10 innings in the day's opener.

The Tritons did the majority of their damage in the finale in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings with 13 runs in those three frames.  Nick Conti capped a five-run fifth inning with a two-run home run, his third of the year.  It followed a series of Saint Leo miscues on a Terence Hebda bunt with two runners on that allowed everyone, including Hebda, to score.

Eckerd added four more runs in the sixth and duplicated the effort in the seventh, an inning that was prolonged by two delays after the infield sprinklers unexpectedly engaged.  The Tritons got RBIs from Conti, Mitch Calandra and Garrett Hiott in both innings while two more runs scored as a result of wild pitches.

Jamaal Chaney crushed a pitch over the left-center field wall in the bottom of the eighth for Eckerd's final run of the night.

In the early innings, the game appeared as though it might be a pitchers' duel between Eckerd's Robin Allen and SLU's Zack Whitaker.  While Eckerd eventually came to life at the plate, Allen (3-2) continued with a solid seven-inning performance in picking up the win.  The freshman scattered eight hits while allowing two earned runs and striking out six.

A Conti RBI single got EC on the board in the first inning before the Lions tied the game in the second.  Saint Leo scored again in the fourth for a 2-1 lead before the Tritons tied it in the bottom of the inning.

Conti finished the game with six RBIs and a triple short of the cycle, going 3-for-3 while being hit by a pitch.  Hiott and Sam Cochrane also had three hits in the finale.

In Friday's opener, Eckerd (18-26, 7-11 SSC) held a 7-3 lead after six innings, but the Lions battled back to send the game into extra innings where they would score four times in the 10th for a 12-8 win.

EC took the lead with a four-run fourth inning that featured back-to-back-to-back home runs by Calandra, Hiott and Justin Glover.  Eckerd added two more runs in the fifth and one each in the sixth and seventh, the latter coming on a solo home run by Hebda.

Nick Alonzo went 6-1/3 solid innings in only his second start of the season.  Alonzo shook off early control problems before finally losing his touch in the seventh.  Jack Mahan came on in relief with the bases loaded and one out, giving up two runs before working out of the jam.

SLU (21-23, 6-15 SSC) scored two more in the eighth and tied the game in the ninth to force extra innings, where home runs from Dylan Harris and Alex Mata helped seal the win.

Cameron Lanzilli (0-2) took the loss for Eckerd in the opener as he allowed all four runs in the 10th.

Conti and Jake Romine both had three hits in the loss while Hiott, Glover and Hebda had two hits apiece.

Eckerd returns to the field next weekend with a visit to the University of Tampa.  The series begins on Friday with a 6:00 PM first pitch.