ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - After falling behind 1-0, an eight-run third inning propelled the Eckerd baseball team to a 13-3 run-rule victory over the Southern Wesleyan (S.C.) Warriors at the Turley Athletic Complex on Saturday afternoon.
The Warriors opened the game on an RBI double for an early 1-0 lead. With runners on the corners in the second, Gavin Grubbs came in relief. Eckerd closed the inning on a rundown at home, followed by a strikeout to keep the deficit at one.
Eckerd exploded for eight runs in the third. Alex Brazer gave Eckerd the go-ahead with a two-run double down the leftfield line. Cole Schumaker hit an RBI single to leftfield to extend the Triton lead to two. Joe Wike followed with an RBI single of his own for a 4-1 lead. Eckerd added four more runs in the inning as they batted around the order to close the inning with an 8-1 lead. Grubbs struck out two in the fourth to keep the Warriors off the board.
Eckerd added another in the fourth on a sacrifice fly from Kyle Ericson to lead 9-1. Grubbs posted his final two strikeouts for three-up-three-down in the fifth. Eckerd added another run in the fifth to bring the tally to double digits. The Warriors scored two runs in the sixth to keep the game from being retired to run-rule. However, Eckerd added three more runs for a run-rule walkoff in the bottom of the frame to close the game 13-3.
HOW IT ENDED
FINAL: Eckerd 13, Southern Wesleyan 3 (8 Innings)
WP: Grubbs (7-0) LP: Vollmert (0-6)
RECORDS: Eckerd 14-15; Southern Wesleyan 6-29
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Schumaker led EC with four hits on the day. White trailed behind with three, while Bradley and Wike put up multi-hit performances with two apiece.
- Grubbs was effective in relief, striking out five and allowing no hits over 3.2 innings of work to earn his seventh win of the season.
- Bradley, Brazer, Wike, and White each had two RBIs on the day.
- The Tritons combined for a season-high 16 hits today.
UP NEXT
Eckerd returns to conference play on the road on Friday, traveling to Melbourne, Fla. to face off against Florida Tech at 6:00 PM.