SAINT LEO, Fla. – The Eckerd Tritons baseball team scored six runs in the eighth inning to erase a five-run deficit and defeat the Saint Leo Lions by a score of 11-10 on Friday night.

Eckerd struck first in the game with a pair of base runners to begin the night. Joey Bazydlo kicked things off with a leadoff walk and was brought in by Corey Hodierne's RBI double during the next at-bat. The Tritons followed that up with a four-spot in the second, starting with an error to tack on the team's second run. Ean Gimson notched an RBI single before Hodierne collected his second and third RBI of the contest with a two-run hit to center. Eckerd led 5-0 after two innings of action.

Saint Leo added two in the third and two in the fifth to pull within a run before posting six in the bottom of the sixth to seize a 10-5 advantage. After a scoreless seventh, the Tritons cut into the margin with a Kam Gelwick single that was followed by a Christian Cabina two-run home run. The rally continued with a single and two walks to load the bases with two outs. A wild pitch accounted for Eckerd's eighth run, setting up a game-tying double from Bazydlo to even the score at 10 apiece. Hodierne delivered his fourth run batted in during the next at-bat with a single to left-center to give the Tritons an 11-10 lead.

Max Folkman, who entered the game in the sixth, worked around a hit in each of the Lions' at-bats in the eighth and ninth to seal the victory. He earned the win after pitching 3.2 innings and striking out four.

Games two and three of the series will take place tomorrow.