ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd baseball team split a pair of contests to Wayne State University (Mich.) on Friday night at the Turley Athletic Complex. The Tritons dropped the first game 9-5 before bouncing back to win the day's closer 5-3.
Eckerd started the day hot, with two early runs. Reid Lisle sent his third homerun of the season over the right field wall in the opening frame to kick off the night for Eckerd. Lisle added to the lead with an RBI single in the second for a 2-0 Eckerd favor.
A pair of runs for the Warriors in the top of the third evened the scores at two apiece. The Warriors exploded with a five-run fourth inning to lead 7-2. Each team added a run in the sixth, before an RBI single in the seventh gave Wayne State the 9-3 lead. A two-run homer by Kyle Ericson in the bottom of the seventh gave the Tritons some life for the possibility of a comeback. Alex Brazer and Cole Schumaker both singled through the right side, for two-on, two-out, trailing by four. With the tying run on deck, Joe Wike flied out to right field to end the game 9-5.
The day's closer began with Wayne State taking the early lead in the first off a wild pitch from Rene Ramos. Eckerd answered back in the third with a sacrifice fly by Collier to even the score at one. Eckerd added three more in the fourth inning with a two-run single by Christian Perez, and another sacrfice fly, this time by Bradley White. Eckerd held a 4-1 advantage until the sixth.
The Warriors pulled within one in the sixth before Eckerd scored off an error in the bottom of the frame to extend its lead out to two. Wil Stockman struck out two in the top of the seventh to earn the save for the Tritons to win 5-3.
HOW IT ENDED
Game One
FINAL: Wayne State 9, Eckerd 5
WP: Griffin Kilander (3-0) LP: Lane Funneman (1-1) HR: Reid Lisle (3), McGuire (1), Ericson (2)
Game Two
FINAL: Eckerd 5, Wayne State 3
WP: Rene Ramos (1-4) LP: Seth Marano (2-1) S: Wil Stockman (4)
RECORDS: Eckerd 9-9 (2-4 SSC), Wayne State (Mich.) 9-3
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Wike and Lisle each registered three hits on the day.
- Lisle, Ericson, and Brazer each had two RBIs on the day.
- Cooper Nelson struck out five through two innings of work in the opener.
- Eckerd combined for 17 hits on the day, while the bullpen combined for 16 strikeouts.
- Kyle Abbott, Brazer, and Cox each hit a double.
- Ramos earned his first win of the season in the day's closer, striking out four.
UP NEXT
The Tritons are home again for a midweek game against Purdue University Northwest (Ind.) Tuesday at 6:00 PM at the Turley Athletic Complex.
