Even though strong winds came into effect, it did not stop the SCF baseball team (24-12, 9-5 Suncoast) from claiming their third series in Suncoast Conference play as they defeated Hillsborough (17-17, 7-7 Suncoast) 5-2 at Wynn Field Wednesday night. With the win, the Manatees are now 33-15 against the Hawks.
Head coach Tim Hill II sent sophomore Aaron Brown to the mound while HCC head coach William Colome sent redshirt freshman Colton Gordon to counter.
The Manatees would be the first to get on the board as sophomore Bryce Hulett would groundout to send redshirt sophomore Brian Dillingham home to give the Manatees a 1-0 lead, but the Hawks answered back at the top of the third as freshman Erick Orbeta would double and bring in sophomore Rafael Marquez-Acosta to tie the game at 1-1.
After two more scoreless innings with the score still tied at 1-1, the Manatees were able to retake the lead in the bottom of the sixth. After Hulett reached first on a fielding error before sophomore Giovany hit a single, freshman Nick Winkelmeyer would hit a two-single before sophomore Colin Moore gave the Manatees the lead with an RBI single.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Manatees decided to add some insurance runs to the mix. Beginning with a leadoff double by freshman Jonathan Alonso, Dillingham would send him home with a single to give SCF a 3-1 lead. This signaled the end for Gordon and was soon replaced by freshman Carlos Francisco-Rodriguez, but it did very little effect for SCF after a single by Hulett before stealing second as Lorenzo would send Dillingham home with a single. After Winkelmeyer was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Moore would bring in Hulett to give the Manatees a 5-1 lead.
At the top of the eighth, the Hawks were able to add one more run to the scoreboard as Orbeta would hit an RBI single to make it 5-2 SCF, but it was all they could produce as the Manatees would pull away with the win.
"This was a big win for us," said head coach Tim Hill II. "The story of our game was our pitcher (Aaron Brown) who I thought was outstanding. He came as as advertised tonight and has had a really good season. The wind was the strongest I've ever seen in a long time and kept blowing in our batter's faces, so it wasn't a great night for the offense, but we did some little things, especially late in the game that helped us stretch it out a bit, so we challenge our guys the whole time to win the seventh, eighth and ninth inning and if we continue to do that consistently, then we're going to win most of our games."
Brown would earn his fifth win of the season after throwing a complete game giving up both runs on five hits while striking out seven. The Vanderbilt transfer is now at 5-2 on the season.
Gordon would be credited with his second loss of the season, putting him at 5-2 on the season. Gordon gave up three runs (two earned) on seven hits while striking out seven.
Francisco-Rodriguez gave up the remaining two runs on three hits with two strikeouts in two thirds of an inning.
Freshman Damien Torres struck out one batter in one scoreless inning.
Lorenzo finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run while Dillingham (2-for-5, one RBI and two runs) and Winkelmeyer (2-for-3) had two hits each. Moore was the only Manatee with a multi-RBI game as he finished 1-for-3 with two RBI.
Orbeta and Marquez-Acosta each had two hits on HCC's offense.
"Brian Dillingham had the big hit for us to get us ahead late in the game as well as Lorenzo Nick (Winkelmeyer) and Jonathan (Alonso)," said Hill. "All three have been swinging hot bats for us."
Furthermore to the win, Hill earned his 249th win and is now one win away from reaching his 250th career win as head baseball coach for SCF. When asked about getting close to the milestone, Hill II said "If I get 250, then I'll need 1,000 more to catch my dad."
Furthermore Hill said as a way for humor "Will Matt Ennis get me a cake?" I didn't know exactly how to answer to that, but it was funny to say the least.
Up Next:
SCF looks to complete the sweep over HCC as they travel to Tampa to do so. The Manatees look to get Hill II's 250th career win as head coach. Sophomore Corey Ireson will be getting the nod to start game three of the series.
"I expect Hillsborough to come out ready to play," said Hill II on HCC. "They're gonna throw another good arm. I thought their arm they threw tonight (Gordon), a local product from Lakewood Ranch, was terrific. He pitched really well."
"HCC's defense let them down a little bit, but I'm expecting they will throw another good arm and it will be a challenge for our guys to try and get another 'W'. The Suncoast is a tough conference and you have to bring your 'A' game to every game in this conference."
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