TAMPA, Fla. – The Eckerd baseball team faces a tough task as they travel over the Howard Franklin Bridge for a three-game conference series with No. 5 Tampa.
GAMES 45-47: Eckerd College (18-26, 7-11 SSC) at University of Tampa (32-11, 15-3 SSC) |
Friday 6:00 PM | Saturday (DH) 1:00 PM
Coverage:
Stats |
Video
LAST TIME OUT
- Eckerd lost the series two games to one last weekend against Saint Leo at the Turley Athletic Complex. The team dropped the series opener, 12-3, and split the Saturday doubleheader losing game one, 12-8, in 10 innings before bouncing back in the finale, winning 16-6.
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Robin Allen threw seven innings while striking out six to pick up his third win of the season. Eckerd jumped out early with an RBI single from
Nick Conti in the first inning then sealed the game with three big innings, scoring 13 runs through innings five, six, and seven. Capped by his two-run homer in the fifth, Conti drove in six of Eckerd's 16 runs.
Jamaal Chaney also smashed a homer to left-center tacking on another insurance run for the Tritons in the eighth.
- In Saturday's opener, Eckerd used back-to-back-to-back home runs by
Mitch Calandra,
Garrett Hiott, and
Justin Glover in the fourth followed by
Terence Hebda's solo blast in the seventh to pull ahead of Saint Leo. However, the Lions chipped away at Eckerd's lead forcing the game into extra innings where Saint Leo scored four runs in the 10th for the win.
- In the series opener, Eckerd took an early lead as
Chase Achuff,
Andrew Don, and
Daniel Autiello drove in runs. Saint Leo then score 12 unanswered runs to take the game.
HEADING THE OFFENSE
- Conti (.379),
Sam Cochrane (.355), Calandra (.344),
Tom Buonopane (.317), and Achuff (.283) lead the Tritons at the plate.
- Conti went 7-for-12 last weekend against Saint Leo while driving in seven runs. Six of those hits were on Saturday as he gathered three hits in each game. He tops the team in slugging percentage (.509), on-base percentage (.473), and doubles (13).
- Cochrane also collected seven hits last weekend with three apiece in the opener and finale. He enters the series on a seven-game hitting streak. Cochrane's 65 hits are tied for eighth most in the conference.
- Calandra leads the team in RBI's with 30 while lacing 12 doubles. Calandra has an impressive .421/.458/.566 slash line in conference games.
- Buonopane has brought in 19 runs on the season while scoring 37. Buonopane also leads the team in stolen bases with 11.
- Achuff enters the series with a 10-game hit streak and 14-game reached base streak. Achuff has plated 24 runs while ripping seven doubles.
ON THE HILL
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Dillon McCollough (6-4) paves the way for Eckerd on the mound. McCollough's innings pitched (72.4), strikeouts (78), strikeouts looking (27), and wins (6) rank in the top of the conference while his 3.01 ERA and .219 opposing batting average are best the team among starters.
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Jack Mahan,
Nick Alonzo, and
Robin Allen also produce on the mound. Mahan maintains a 5.58 ERA with 35 strikeouts. Alonzo works with a 7.06 ERA with 21 punch-outs while Allen has fanned 34 with a 5.23 ERA.
ABOUT TAMPA
- Tampa is coming off a series sweep of Palm Beach Atlantic. The fifth-ranked Spartans recorded six wins over ranked opponents last month.
- Eight Spartans are hitting over .300. Kevin Santana leads the team with a .411 batting average while J. D. Osborne tops the team's production with 14 doubles, 16 home runs, and 66 RBIs. Osborne leads the conferences in home runs and RBIs.
- Two of Tampa's pitchers are undefeated on the mound – David Lebron (6-0) and Colton Widdows (5-0). Widdows maintains a 1.78 ERA and Lebron has fanned 75.
LAST TIME THE MET
- Tampa won the series last year taking all three games in St. Petersburg.
