“It’s nice to win the first two games of the conference season,” said head coach Tim Hill II. “I’ll feel a little better if we can finish a good series with a win on Friday.”
“Everyone brought their A-game tonight,” said freshman Kevin Karstetter. “Tony pitched extremely well and put us in a position to win and that set the tone for the night. As a defense we had no errors and that helped our pitchers get out of some jams.”
“The team came out and played well,” said sophomore Jacob Steinberg. “We took care of business. We had a slow start but Tony pitched really well and kept us in it. Then the bats came alive.
“The team did great hitting got off to a slow start but as soon as I gave a run they went to bat and got it right back,” said sophomore Tony Rossi. “Defense played amazing it always makes it easy to pitch when you have a stellar defense performance behind you. Owen and jack anderson made two incredible plays behind me. Winning the first conference series is huge especially because we did it on the road. It starts us off with confidence going into Polk next week.”
Hill II sent Rossi to the mound while SFSC head coach Rick Hitt sent freshman Quinten Lindsey to counter.
After the first three innings went scoreless, the Panthers would get the first run on the board in the bottom of the fourth from an RBI single by Lindsey, but the Manatees would respond back at the top of the fifth. After singles by Steinberg and sophomore Owen Ayers, classmate Tucker Mitchell would send a single to center and bring in Steinberg to tie the game at 1-1. Sophomore Jack Anderson would then follow with an RBI single and bring in Ayers to give the Manatees a 2-1 lead.
At the top of the sixth, the Manatees extended their after sophomore Rook Ellington reached base on a fielding error to bring in freshman Brayden Woodburn to make it 3-1 SCF.
At the top of the seventh, Karstetter would hit a two-RBI single and bring in Mitchell and freshman Harrison Long and make it 5-1 SCF.
In the bottom half, the Panthers would get their second run of the game from an RBI single by sophomore Leeandro Alfonzo, but the Manatees would respond with two more runs at the top of the eighth. After back-to-back singles by Steinberg and Ellington, sophomore Cameron Lee and freshman Charlie Davidson would come in to pinch run for Steinberg and Ellington. Lee would then steal third and score on a fielding error. Mitchell would then bring in Davidson to make it 7-2 SCF.
Hill would make a change on the mound at the top of the eighth and send sophomore Matt Gelorme to the mound to seal the deal in success for another Manatee win and the series winner.
“It feels great to get off to a good start in confrence play and win our first series,” said Karstter on claiming the series. “We still have work left to do on Friday. “
“It feels great to open up conference with two wins and claim the series,” added Steinberg. “No better way to kick off conference play and continue our positive momentum as a team.”
Rossi would earn his first win of the season after giving up two runs on six hits with one walk and six strikeouts in a season-best seven innings. Rossi is now 1-1 on the season.
“Tony threw one of his best games this season,” said Hill on Rossi. “His slider was working and he had some zip on his fastball. He gave us the start we know he’s capable of.”
“You know it feels great to get my first win of the season,” said Rossi on his first win of the season. “It took a while but we got there. What helped was me and Donnie (Robinson) continuing to work not only about the physical side of things but the mental also. Also my teamates and the coaching staff having confidence in me to roll me back out there and the bats and defense helped a lot.”
Gelorme gave up two hits with two strikeouts in two innings of relief.
Lindsey would be dubbed with the loss after giving up two runs on nine hits with three strikeouts in four and two-thirds while going 2-for-4 at the plate. Lindsey is now 2-1 on the year.
Steinberg lead the team in hits for the game as he went 2-for-4 with a run.
“It was nice to contribute to a conference road win in a positive way,” said Steinberg on his game. “We have so many good players we feel confident no matter who is out there.”
Mitchell (2-for-3, two RBI, one run, one walk) and Long (2-for-5, one run and one stolen base) each had two hits.
Kastetter finished 1-for-5 with two RBI and a stolen base.
“It’s always nice to drive in runs and help the team out, especially insurance runs,” said Karstetter on his game. “Glad we got the W in the end.”
Anderson (1-for-5), Ellington (1-for-5), Ayers (1-for-5, one run), Woodburn (1-for-5, one run) and freshman Jake Jackson (1-for-4) had the remaining five hits.
“While we did have 14 hits, our bats were decent,” said Hill on the team’s hitting. “South Florida State helped us a lot with some timely errors that lead to some runs for us.”
Alfonzo was 2-for-4 with two RBI. He and Lindsey were the only Panthers with a multi-hit game and was the only Panther with a multi-RBI game.
Notes:
This was win #296 for Hill II
Other Suncoast Games:
#20 Florida Southwestern State (18-7, 2-0 Suncoast) defeated Polk State (14-11, 0-2 Suncoast) to claim the series.
St. Pete (11-6, 1-1 Suncoast) defeated Hillsborough (7-9, 1-1 Suncoast) 4-3 to tie the series.
Suncoast Standings:
St. Pete (11-6, 1-1 Suncoast) defeated Hillsborough (7-9, 1-1 Suncoast) 4-3 to tie the series.
Suncoast Standings:
1. #20 FSW (18-7, 2-0)
2. #13 SCF (17-7, 2-0)
3. SPC (11-6, 1-1)
4. Hillsborough (7-9, 1-1)
5. Polk State (14-11, 0-2)
6. South Florida State (10-13, 0-2)
Up Next:
The Manatees will look to claim a sweep over South Florida State as they return home to Robert C. Wynn Field Friday night, March 5 at 6 pm.
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