“A win feels better than a loss any day and we had a rough week,” said head coach Tim Hill II. “I don’t think we played really good tonight, but we did enough to win and IMG helped us out a bit, so it was nice to finally be on the winning side since we haven’t done it in a week.”
“It felt good to get the win,” said freshman Kevin Karstetter. “IMG is a good opponent and they had a good starter, but we did not have our best stuff at the plate, but we figured out a way to get some runs and put up a 10-spot and that was nice.”
“It felt good to get out of this slump we were in and it was a tough week for us and now we’re focused for conference.”
“It was a good win and we needed it,” said sophomore Tucker Mitchell. “It definitely wasn’t handed it to us. They (IMG) threw a good guy against us and we had to battle, make some adjustments and get his pitch count up and for us we needed it as we resume conference and it happened today.”
Hill sent freshman Eli Thurmond to the mound, while IMG head coach Kason Gabbard sent Khaden Washington to counter.
After a scoreless first, the Ascenders would score first at the top of the second after James Porter scored on a wild pitch. In the bottom half of the inning, the Manatees would respond back, beginning with sophomore Jack Anderson drawing a leadoff walk. After Karstetter hit a double, sophomore Owen Ayers would reach first on a fielding error while Anderson scored to tie the game at 1-1. After Ayers stole second, freshman Brayden Woodburn would send a sacrifice fly to center and bring in Karstetter to give the Manatees a 2-1 lead.
Hill would send sophomore Jakob Mattos to the mound to replace Thurmond, however the Ascenders would tie the game at 2-2 after Nico Kulpick drew a bases-loaded walk.
The Manatees would then regain the lead in the bottom of the fifth after Mitchell would send a single to left and bring in sophomore Cameron Lee to make it 3-2 SCF.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Manatees started to finally wake up their offense. After Karstetter drew a leadoff walk and Ayers and sophomore Jacob Steinberg hit back-to-back singles to load the bases, Karstetter would score on a wild pitch. Freshman Joel Perez would then draw a walk to load the bases again before Ayers scored on a wild pitch. After Lee was hit by a pitch to load the bases for the third time this inning, Mitchell would then get hit by a pitch and bring in Steinberg to make it 6-2 SCF.
Soon, a returning freshman Harrison Long would send a double to center and bring in Perez and Lee before freshman Drew Macciochi came in to pinch run. Long was out for 1 straight games due to a hip injury.
“It felt good to be back on the field after watching for a while, which really bothered me,” said Long on his return. “I just wanted to get back out there and play with all my good friends. I started off a little slow since I haven’t seen pitch in a little while, but I stuck to my approach and figured it out.”
Freshman Jake Jackson would then draw a walk for a fourth bases loaded situation before freshman Charlie Davidson drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in Mitchell before Macciochi scored on a fielding error to make it 10-2 SCF.
The Ascenders would add one more run to their scorecard at the top of the seventh as Gabe Wright hit an RBI double, but it was all they could produce at the end as the Manatees ended their losing streak.
Thurmond would get a no-decision after throwing two innings, giving up one unearned run on one hit with one walk and three strikeouts.
Sophomore David Barrett would earn his fourth win of the season after throwing one scoreless inning of relief with two strikeouts. He is now 4-2.
Mattos, Davidson, sophomores Clay Callan and Tony Rossi and freshmen Dylan Vega and Sean Dertinger each threw an inning of relief with at least one strikeout. Mattos and Callan each gave up one run.
Washington would get hit with the loss after giving up three runs (two earned) on three hits with three walks and seven strikeouts in five innings.
“We definitely have a lot of interest in him,” said Hill on Washington. “Barry (Batson) is talking to him and he does seemed interested in maybe staying down in Florida. Our hitters thought he was an interesting guy and I thought he was competitive and he’s probably a big reason why we didn’t swing the bats as well as we’re capable of.”
Karstetter was the only Manatee with a multi-hit game as he went 3-for-4 with two runs and a walk.
“I thought I played well and I was driving the other way well,” said Karstetter on his game. “I found some good barrels with a good approach and got my foot down and did some damage.”
Mitchell and Long each brought in two RBI.
“I was trying to find good pitches to hit, stay within myself and make some small adjustments,” said Mitchell on his game. “It’s all about making adjustments and the more you can make them, the better you’ll be.”
Mitchell threw back to playing at IMG and head coach Gabbard for two years prior to SCF and FAU.
“Playing at IMG for two years and seeing how much they go through and want it, it was good to go to a different place and play them and beat them.”
Ayers and Steinberg had the remaining two hits for the team. Ayers added one RBI and a run, while Steinberg added one run.
Wright was the only Ascender with a multi-hit game as he went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run.
Notes:
This was win #305 for Hill.
Other Suncoast Scores:
#13 Florida Southwestern State (30-10, 12-3 Suncoast) defeated Elev8 Academy 17-1. The Buccaneers will face Pasco-Hernado State (22-19) Friday night, April 2.
Hillsborough (12-19, 4-11 Suncoast) defeated ASA Miami (3-22) 11-7. They will return to Suncoast action against St. Pete.
South Florida State College (16-23, 3-12 Suncoast) defeated NAIA Warner University (B) 18-0 in seven innings.
Up Next:
Up Next:
The Manatees will resume Suncoast Conference play as they begin their second series against South Florida State College. Game one will start on Saturday afternoon, April 3 at 1 pm at the SFSC Panther Field in Avon Park and game two will take place at Wynn Field Monday night, April 5 at 6 pm before wrapping up the series back at SFSC Panther Field Wednesday night, April 7 at 6 pm.
Hill will give sophomore Matt Gelorme the nod for game one and classmate Cole Ayers the nod for game two. For game three, while it has not been decided, Hill will decide between Thurmond and sophomore Daniel Batcher.
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