Tritons Sweep Saturday From No. 2 Spartans, Win Series

TAMPA, Fla. - There is still one week left before a Sunshine State Conference baseball championship is determined.

While the Eckerd baseball team may not find out who that champion is until a week from today, the Tritons did all they could to put themselves in position to claim that banner.

After dropping last night's opener at No. 2 Tampa, Eckerd took both ends of a Saturday doubleheader, the last in thrilling fashion to take the series from the SSC-leading Spartans on the road for the first time since 2005.

The Tritons jumped ahead early in the opener, then held off a late UT rally for a 9-5 win.  In the finale, the Spartans scored three runs in the eighth to force extra innings where EC won it in the 10th.

Tampa had the tying run at second with two outs and sent him home on a single to right field. Jake Romine unleashed a hard throw to the plate that was up the line a bit, but Mitch Calandra quickly applied the tag to cut down pinch runner Mikey Navarette just in time.

Eckerd finishes the SSC regular season at 19-11 and tied with Nova Southeastern, but the Tritons hold the tiebreaker over the Sharks by virtue of their series win.

Should EC end up tied with Tampa (17-10) or Embry-Riddle (16-10), the tiebreaker would again go in its favor.  One loss each for UT, Embry-Riddle, and Florida Tech (13-11) would give Eckerd its first-ever SSC Championship.

HOW IT ENDED
Game 1
Final: Eckerd 9, #2 Tampa 5
WP: Allen (5-2)  LP: Reynolds (3-1)  Sv: Achuff (7)  HR: Calandra (6), Glover (10)

Game 2
Final: Eckerd 6, #2 Tampa 5 (10 innings)
WP: Achuff (2-2)  LP: Beck (2-2)
Records: Eckerd 30-16 (19-11 SSC); Tampa 34-13 (17-10 SSC)

KEY MOMENTS
Game 1

• The Tritons jumped on top early with a three-run second on RBIs by Keith Leavitt, Jr., Nick Conti, and Garrett Hiott. After Tampa scored one in the third, Eckerd blew the game open with five runs in the fourth highlighted by a Mitch Calandra grand slam.
• The score remained 8-1 until the bottom of the seventh. A leadoff single ended the day for Robin Allen, who had worked six strong innings, and began a rally that saw the Spartans score three times before Jarid Salisbury got a strikeout to strand two.
• Hiott's speed helped produce a run in the eighth for Eckerd. After a two-out single to center, Hiott swiped second and took third on a throwing error before Calandra's RBI single brought him home.
• Tampa got a leadoff homerun from Stevie Mangrum in the bottom of the eighth and loaded the bases with one out before Chase Achuff escaped the jam with a 4-6-3 double play in relief.
• UT put a pair of runners aboard with two outs in the ninth but left both stranded again as Achuff secured his seventh save of the year.

Game 2

• Eckerd again did early damage in the finale. Achuff delivered a two-out, two-run single in the first inning, then came through with another two-out single in the third to drive in a run. Nick Arrivo followed suit with his RBI single giving EC a 4-1 lead.
• After UT scored a run in the bottom of the third, Sam Cochrane drew a bases-loaded walk for a 5-2 lead.
• Cameron Lanzilli kept Tampa scoreless over the next three innings and Ryan Lashley tossed a scoreleess seventh, but Eckerd was unable to pad its lead as the game entered the eighth still at 5-2.
• The Spartans rallied in the bottom of the eighth, loading the bases with no outs. Achuff got a pop-up before Danny Sirven delivered a two-run single and Mangrum tied the game at 5-5 on a fielder's choice.
• Neither team scored in the ninth sending the game to extra innings. In the 10th, Eckerd took advantage of two errors to put two on with no outs. Hiott later drove in the go-ahead run with a single up the middle.
• Tampa put runners on first and second with two outs in the bottom of the 10th before Sam Freitas singled to right. Pinch-runner Mikey Navarette was waved home but cut down by Romine on a bang-bang play at the plate.

NOTES AND NUMBERS

• The wins were the 29th and 30th of the season for Eckerd, the most by a Triton team since 1999.
• The series win over Tampa was Eckerd's first since 2005.
• Eckerd's 19 conference wins are the most in program history, and the SSC winning percentage of .633 is the highest since 1981.
• Arrivo had hits in both ends of the doubleheader to extend his hitting streak to 12 games.
• Calandra drove in five runs in the opener, pushing his season total to 64 which ranks fourth in program history.

UP NEXT
The Tritons wrap up the regular season on Monday hosting Flagler (Fla.) for a single game at 5:00 PM.