AMERICUS, Ga. - The Eckerd baseball team opened its season with a one-hit shutout, 6-0, in the first game before falling, 9-1, in the finale at Georgia Southwestern Saturday afternoon.
The Tritons scored early in the opener with a pair of runs in the second inning. Tyler Cox brought in the first run with an RBI single and later scored following a Canes' error. EC went quiet over the next six innings before erupting for four runs in the ninth via an RBI single from Mitch Donofrio, a two-RBI single from Jake Andriole, and a wild pitch. Meanwhile, EC's pitching staff kept GSW off-balance, allowing just one hit while fanning 12.
The Canes jumped ahead early in the finale with a run in the second inning on an RBI double. Joe Wike evened the score in the following frame with a sacrifice fly, scoring Michael Ballard, who tripled. However, GSW opened up the game in the fourth inning with five runs before tacking on three insurance runs in the sixth.
HOW IT ENDED
Game One
Final: Eckerd 6, GSW 0
WP: Stipp (1-0) LP: Donalson (0-1)
Game Two
Final: GSW 9, Eckerd 1
WP:Mccollum (1-0) LP: Andriole (0-1) HR: Wozinak (1)
RECORDS: Eckerd 1-1; GSW 1-1
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Donofrio, Ballard, Cox, and Andriole each recorded a pair of hits on the day.
- Wike drew three walks.
- Jacob Stipp collected his first career win on the mound, pitching six shutout innings with just one hit while fanning nine.
- Troy Dunnam and Tyler Cox came on in relief to combine for the shutout in the opener, throwing one and two hitless innings, respectively.
- Andriole picked up the loss in the second game allowing five runs over 3.2 innings.
UP NEXT
Eckerd concludes the three-game series tomorrow with the rubber match slated for 1:00 PM.
