SCF Baseball Readies for UT JV and Pasco-Hernando

The SCF baseball team (10-9) remain at home for a weekend of games as they welcome the University of Tampa JV team (4-3, 1-0 SSC) Friday night, February 28 at 6 pm before facing Pasco-Hernando State (8-9) to Wynn Field Saturday afternoon, February 29 at 1 pm.

Last Time Out:
The Manatees are coming off of facing Pasco-Hernando earlier this week where they won 5-4.

Freshman Owen Ayers is batting a team-leading .365 with two home runs and 10 RBI. Ayers was 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBI.

Sophomore John Malcom is leading the team offensively overall as he is batting .319 with four home runs and 18 RBI. Malcom was 1-for-4 in the last game against PHSC.

Classmate Aaron McKeithan is batting .317 with two home runs and 11 RBI. The transfer from Kentucky was 1-for-4 with an RBI against PHSC.

On the mound, sophomore Jake Smith is 3-1 with a 2.86 ERA and 28 strikeouts. In his last start, the upcoming Miami transfer threw a complete game against Florence-Darlington Tech with 10 strikeouts.

Sophomore Tony Rossi has been adapting to his role in relief going 1-0 with a 1.86 ERA and 16 strikeouts. Rossi picked up the win against PHSC giving up one run on one hit with two strikeouts in two and a third innings.

Scouting UT JV:
The University of Tampa junior varsity team is a part of the NCAA DII University of Tampa. They are coming off of competing in a doubleheader against Florida Southern winning by scores of 7-3 and 6-0 in seven innings. They already started playing in Sunshine State Conference play where they defeated Inspiration Academy 17-5.

Junior Trevor Roberson has played in all seven games so far and is batting .304 with a home run and three RBI. Sophomore Eric Zimmerman has a home run and five RBI while batting .364.

Scouting Pasco-Hernando State:
As noted, the Manatees played PHSC and won by a score of 5-4.

Sophomore Stephen Wilmer leads the team batting .431 with a home run and 18 RBI. Wilmer was 1-for-5 with a run scored against SCF.

Sophomore Derek Rascher is 2-1 with a 2.95 ERA and 21 strikeouts. In his last game, Rascher threw three and a third innings of relief with three strikeouts against Polk State.

Sophomore Andres Diaz is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA, one save and 17 strikeouts. Diaz earned his second win against St. Pete College after giving up three runs on seven hits with four strikeouts in six and a third.

Series History:
Including the win on Monday, the Manatees are 8-2 against the Bobcats. Meanwhile against UTJV, the Manatees hold a 23-1-1 record.

How to Keep Up:
Livestats will be provided by GameChanger and fans can keep up with all three teams on Twitter:
SCF: @SCFBaseball
PHSC: @phscbaseball
UTJV: UT_Baseball