ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – During their bye week from conference play, the Eckerd baseball team split a doubleheader with Coker (S.C.) College Saturday afternoon at the Turley Athletic Complex.
Dillon McCollough kept the Cobras off the board over the first six innings of the opener while the Triton offense exploded early with nine runs over the first four innings for the early win.
In the second game, Eckerd rallied to tie the game in the sixth inning but Coker scored seven runs over the final three innings as Eckerd dropped the finale, 9-5.
HOW IT ENDED
Game One
Final: Eckerd 12, Coker 2
WP: McCollough (6-0)
LP: Koski (5-2)
Sv: Durham (1)
HR: Achuff (1), Leavitt Jr. (2)
Game Two
Final: Coker 9, Eckerd 5
WP: Wofford (1-2)
LP: Allen (4-1)
Sv: Hollifield (2)
HR: Glover (6), Hiott (5), Hall (3)
Records: Eckerd 20-13; Coker 13-21-1
KEY MOMENTS
Game One
- Chase Achuff got Eckerd on the board early with a solo homerun to left center in the second inning.
- Nick Conti and Garrett Hiott drew back-to-back walks in the third inning and Mitch Calandra quickly brought them both in with a double down the left field line. Achuff delivered an RBI single to centerfield to put Eckerd up, 4-0.
- Eckerd used a five-run fourth inning to take a 9-0 lead. Justin Glover led off the inning with a single before Mitch Donofrio doubled him in. Keith Leavitt, Jr., followed with a single through the right side to bring in Donofrio. Calandra sent a two-run single through the left side to score Leavitt, Jr. and Conti. Nick Arrivo plated the final run of the inning with a single to left field.
- The Cobras got on the board in the seventh inning with a pair of runs. Casey Demko hit a bases-loaded single for the first run. With the bases still loaded, R.J. Hall hit an RBI double to left; however, Eckerd was able to limit the damage and end the inning turning a double play cutting down both runners from first and second at the plate on the play.
- Eckerd added three insurance runs in the bottom of the inning. Donofrio hit an RBI single to score Arrivo who tripled to lead off the inning. Leavitt, Jr., then brought in Donofrio with a two-run homerun smacked to left field.
Game Two
- Robin Allen kept Coker hitless over the first three innings but the Cobras broke through in the fourth inning with a solo homerun by Hall and RBI single to take a 2-0 lead.
- A Glover solo homer to left in the fifth pulled Eckerd within one and Leavitt, Jr., tied the game at 2-2 in the sixth inning. He doubled to lead off the inning and moved to third on a Conti fly out before scoring the tying run on a wild pitch.
- Coker took the lead back in the next frame after loading the bases with no outs. The Cobras got a pair of two-run singles from Demko and Hall to take a 6-4 lead.
- Coker added another two runs in the next inning on another bases-loaded two-run single by Demko.
- Eckerd rallied in the eighth inning to pull within three as Hiott hit a three-run homer to right center scoring Matt Miller and Leavitt, Jr., who both walked to lead off the inning.
- Coker tacked on an insurance run with an RBI single in the ninth. Eckerd got a runner on in the ninth on a pinch-hit single by Santos Grande but was unable to push a run across.
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Both Achuff and Calandra led Eckerd in the opener with three hits each while Calandra had four RBIs and Achuff had two. Arrivo, Donofrio, and Leavitt, Jr. had two hits apiece also in the opener. Hiott led Eckerd in the second game with a pair of hits and three RBIs.
- Dillon McCollough threw six scoreless innings while striking out six to improve to 6-0 on the season while Kyle Durham picked up the first save of his career throwing three scoreless innings.
- Calandra added a pair of singles on the day moving his career total to 185. He needs just one single to tie the career singles mark.
UP NEXT
Eckerd concludes the three-game series with Coker tomorrow at 12:00 PM.
