LAKELAND, Fla. - Mitch Donofrio homered twice on the day, including a go-ahead three-run shot in the opener as the Eckerd baseball team fended off a Florida Southern rally to take the first game, 5-4, before falling in the finale, 4-3, as the Tritons took the series on Saturday at Henley Field.
Eckerd jumped ahead early in the opener as two runs scored in the second frame on a Moccasins' error. FSC pulled within one in the bottom of the frame on an RBI single.Â
Michael Ballard and Jake Andriole led off the seventh with a pair of singles, and Mitch Donofrio brought them home with a three-run homerun to left field.Â
FSC rallied in the seventh with an RBI triple and an RBI single to trail 5-4. The Mocs loaded the bases in the eighth, but Jake Sanderson coaxed a ground out to end the inning before shutting the door in the ninth to seal the game.Â
Ballard brought in two runs in the second stanza with a single to left center in the finale.Â
The Mocs pulled within one in the fourth on an RBI single before Donofrio made it a 3-1 Triton lead with a solo homerun in the fifth. However, Florida Southern rallied to take a 4-3 Â lead on a pair of Nick Wells homeruns, a two-run blast in the fifth and a solo shot in the seventh. EC got a runner in scoring position in the eighth and ninth but was unable to push the tying run across.Â
HOW IT ENDEDÂ
Game OneÂ
Final: Eckerd 5, Florida Southern 4
WP: Durham (2-1) LP: Verrino (1-1) S: Sanderson (2) HR: Donofrio (3)
Game Two
Final: Florida Southern 4, Eckerd 3
WP: Langford (1-0) L: Lawry (1-1) S: Madej (1) HR: Wells 2 (2) Donofrio (4)
Records: Eckerd 11-13 (5-4 SSC); Florida Southern 14-12 (5-4 SSC)Â
NOTES AND NUMBERSÂ
- Donofrio collected five hits over both games with four RBIs. He had an impressive weekend at the plate, going 7-for-15 with a .466/.500/1.067 slash line and eight RBIs.
- Tyler Cox went 7-for-13 in the series, including two hits in the finale. He also went 3-for-3 on the bases.Â
- Ballard also had an impressive weekend going 6-for-10 with five RBIs.Â
- Eckerd hit .351 in the series as a team.Â
- Four Tritons extended their reached base streak to 10 or more games: Andriole (14), Joe Wike (11), Ballard (11), and Danny Gutcher (11).Â
- Kyle Durham earned his second win of the season, throwing two innings of relief in the opener, while Sanderson earned the save, throwing 1.1 hitless innings.Â
- Â Brendan Lawry collected the loss in the finale throwing 6.1 innings, allowing four runs while striking out six.Â
UP NEXT
Eckerd returns to SSC play on Friday, hosting Embry-Riddle at 6:00 PM to start their three-game series.Â