LAKELAND, Fla. -- The Eckerd Tritons baseball team wrapped up a three-game series with the Florida Southern Mocs on Saturday, winning the series after splitting a pair of games on Saturday. Eckerd won the first game by a score of 8-0 before dropping the finale by an 11-10 final.
It was a defensive battle to begin game one, with neither team scratching across a run through the first five innings. The Tritons earned their first hits and runs of the contest in the sixth, pushing two across for a 2-0 lead.
Christian Cabina was responsible for both runs, sending a double down the left field line to bring in
Hunter Rebhan and
Kam Gelwick.
Eckerd added six more in the eighth inning to pull away for good, beginning with a leadoff solo home run by Rebhan to start the scoring surge.
Dawson Jones was next to produce a run with his RBI double, followed by
Joey Bazydlo cashing in two more with a single to center.
Ean Gimson brought Bazydlo in with a triple during the next at-bat, and
Corey Hodierne drove in the final run with a single to follow.
Rocco Calise struck out six in six innings of relief to earn the win after spelling
Nick Rainey, who opened the game with three scoreless innings. Seven different Tritons registered a hit.
In game two, Eckerd fell behind early after a five-run first inning by Florida Southern. A two-run home run by Cabina and another RBI hit from Bazydlo cut the deficit to just two in the second inning, but the Mocs answered with one in the bottom half and another in the third to extend the lead to four at 7-3.Â
The Tritons continued to battle back, inching within one after another three-spot in the fourth.
Anthony Lino started the rally with an RBI double, and Gimson brought the team closer with a sac fly. Hodierne's single made it a 7-6 game. Eckerd tallied one more in the ensuing inning on an RBI fielder's choice from
Luis Garrido to deadlock the score at 7-7.Â
The back-and-forth battle continued as each team sent two across home plate during their next at-bats. The Tritons benefited from an RBI groundout and an error to even the game at nine apiece in the seventh, but the Mocs countered with their second consecutive two-run inning to take an 11-9 advantage. Cabina's RBI single in the eighth got the team back within one, but the home team worked around a pair of base runners in the ninth to escape with the one-run win.
Eckerd racked up 17 hits in game two, led by four from Cabina. Four others had two.
The Tritons now sit at 19-6 on the season. The team will take on Saint Leo on Tuesday in a non-conference matchup.
