Lyons Pulls Two Big Flies Over South Florida State

Sophomore Jamarcus Lyons pulled off one of his best offensive games as the SCF baseball team (12-10 Suncoast) opened Suncoast Conference play blowing out South Florida State (13-10, 0-1 Suncoast) 20-0 via mercy rule. With the win, the Manatees are now 22-12 against the Panthers and will play the second at Wynn Field Wednesday night, March 4 at 6 pm.

Head coach Tim Hill II sent sophomore Cole Ayers to the mound, while SFSC head coach Rick Hitt sent freshman Alex Marshall to counter.

The Manatees would open the flood gates at the top of the first after sophomore Rook Ellington hit a single to right before Lyons sent a two-run shot to left for a 2-0 lead for his first home run of the season.

Meanwhile during the first two innings, Cole Ayers was pounding at the strike zone as he pulled off with four strikeouts.

At the top of the third, sophomore John Malcom pulled a double to left to send Lyons home for a 3-0 SCF lead, but the top of the fourth stood no limits for the Manatees offense beginning with a leadoff single by freshman Richard Rodriguez before sophomore Remi Patry and freshman Cameron Lee load the bases after reaching base on fielding errors. This would signal the end for Marshall as Hitt would send sophomore Trey Fields the mound.

With Fields on the mound, Rodriguez would take advantage of a wild pitch and score while Patry and Lee advance to scoring position. On a 1-1 count, Ellington would send Patry and Lee home with a single to right to make it 6-0 SCF. After Lyons reached first on a fielder's choice and sophomore Aaron McKeithan loaded the bases after being hit a pitch, Malcom would draw to reload the bases and send Ellington home. Following Malcom's walk, freshman Owen Ayers would line a single to center to bring in Lyons and McKeithan to make it 9-0 SCF. The team batted around as Patry would load the bases again after drawing a walk before Lee brought in Malcom and Owen Ayers with a pop fly single to left for a 10-0 SCF lead.

Two innings later, the Manatees decided to add nine final runs to their score at the top of the seventh beginning with a leadoff walk by Lee. After Ellington hit a single to center, Lyons proved his power once again as the transfer from UCF shot a 3-run blast to left for his second home run of the season and the game. This would signal the end for Fields as Hitt brought in freshman Myles Caba to pitch.

After McKeithan flew out, and Malcom, Owen Ayers and sophomore AJ Fritz drew walks to load the bases, Rodriguez woul draw a walk to send Malcom home before Hitt sent freshman Nico Saladino to the mound. After the pitching change, Patry would send a single to left to bring in Malcom before Lee sent Owen Ayers and Fritz home for a 18-0 SCF.

After Ellington reached first on fielder's choice with Lee being called out at second while Patry reached third before scoring on a fielding error. With one final push, Lyons would send Ellington home on a double to make it 20-0 SCF before Cole Ayers struck out three batters to seal the deal for the win.

Cole Ayers would get his second win of the season after throwing seven shutout innings, giving up six hits with three walks and 10 strikeouts. Ayers is now 2-2 on the season.

Marshall would be dubbed with the loss after giving up six runs (three earned) on four hits with one walk and four strikeouts. He is now 2-1 on the year.

Lyons was the offensive hero for the Manatees as he finished 3-for-6 with two home runs, six RBI, four runs and a stolen base. In fact, he is the second Manatee this season with a multi-home run game (First: John Malcom).

Ellington would also finish 3-for-6 with two RBI and four runs, while Lee finished 2-for-4 with four RBI, two runs and a walk.

Malcom, Owen Ayers, Rodriguez and Patry each had one hit and two RBI. Malcom added three walks and two runs, while Owen Ayers added two walks and two runs and Rodriguez and Patry each added a walk and two runs.

Sophomore Casey Asman was the only Panther with a multi-hit game as he went 2-for-3.