All three games against HCC will start at 3 pm and take place at George M. Steinbrenner Field Monday, April 19, Wednesday, April 21 and Friday, April 23.
For the series against FSW, game one will take place at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers Saturday afternoon, April 24 at 1 pm. Game two will then return to Robert C. Wynn Field Monday night, April 26 at 6 pm before returning to City of Palms Park Wednesday afternoon, April 28 at 3 pm. Game two will be the last home game of the season for the Manatees.
Last Time Out:
The Manatees recently wrapped up their second series with St. Pete College with a sweep over them. The Manatees won by scores of 10-6, 15-4 and 10-3. Evidently, SCF defeated the Titans 5-1 in the series.
2,000 Club:
In the series finale against SPC, the Manatees claimed a new milestone to their program as they earned their 2,000th win in their program’s history, dating back to 1959. Arguably, they are the first junior college in the state reach 2,000 wins as a single program.
Wolf Pack Power:
Sophomore Tucker Mitchell is one of the top sources leading the power and contact for the Manatees. Mitchell is currently batting .378 with six home runs and a team-leading 50 RBI. Against SPC, the NC State commit was 6-for-14 with two home runs and seven RBI in the second series and was 9-for-32 overall with two home runs and 11 RBI. In fact, all six of his home runs were in Suncoast play.
Jake the Rake:
Freshman Jake Jackson has also been on a hot streak at the plate as he is on an eight-game hitting streak. Jackson is batting a team-leading .385 with two home runs and 27 RBI. Against SPC, he was 5-for-10 with a home run and two RBI in the second series and 10-for-25 overall with one home run and five RBI.
Steel City Smackdown:
Although he had a brief cold spell in some of his games, sophomore Jack Anderson still plays a big role at the plate. Anderson is currently batting .337 with five home runs and 38 RBI. The Pittsburgh commit finished the second series against SPC 3-for-9 with four RBI and 8-for-21 with six RBI overall.
Start Your Engines:
Freshman Kevin Karstetter has been playing well for his first year with the Manatees. Karstetter is currently batting .313 with three home runs and 45 RBI. Karstetter finished the second series with SPC 4-for-10 with five RBI and finished 10-for-23 with 10 RBI.
Anchors Aweigh:
Like Jackson, sophomore Owen Ayers has been on a roll at the plate as he is also on a eight-game hitting streak. Ayers is currently batting .293 with seven home runs, 39 RBI and nine stolen bases. Against SPC in the second series, Ayers finished 3-for-11 with three RBI and three stolen bases and overall finished 8-for-24 with a home run, seven RBI and three stolen bases.
Pitcher Pride:
Sophomores Cole Ayers and Daniel Batcher have been the keys to the starting rotation.
Ayers had one of his better starts against SPC where he threw eight innings with seven strikeouts. Currently, the upcoming Cincinnati transfer is 4-1 with a 4.97 ERA and 47 strikeouts.
Batcher threw seven innings with seven strikeouts in his last start against SPC. Currently, he is 7-3 with a 2.51 ERA and 67 strikeouts. Batcher will start game three against HCC.
Batcher threw seven innings with seven strikeouts in his last start against SPC. Currently, he is 7-3 with a 2.51 ERA and 67 strikeouts. Batcher will start game three against HCC.
Wild Card Factors:
Sophomores David Barrett, AJ Fritz and Matt Gelorme and freshmen Brayden Woodburn and Eli Thurmond.
The lead veteran reliever, Barrett is currently 4-4 with a 2.43 ERA, 61 strikeouts and two saves. He recently committed to Florida State University.
After returning from injury, Fritz is batting .263 with a home run and 13 RBI.
The third starter on the team, Gelorme is currently 3-1 with a 4.25 ERA and 54 strikeouts. Gelorme will start game one against HCC.
Woodburn has played a much more stronger role from being in the starting lineup as he is currently batting .312 with four home runs and 37 RBI. Against SPC in the second series, Woodburn went 6-for-11 with a home run and seven RBI. Overall against SPC, he went 9-for-21 with a home run and nine RBI.
Bouncing between starting and relief, Thurmond is 4-1 with a 3.21 ERA, three saves and 44 strikeouts.
Scouting HCC:
The Hawks are coming off of losing the second series to Polk State, winning game one 11-3 before losing games two and three by scores of 14-8 and 4-0.
Sophomore Alex Cordero still leads the Hawks offense after batting .310 with 13 home runs and 36 RBI, while Hunter Fitzgerald follows batting .279 with seven home runs and 24 RBI. Fitzgerald will be committing to Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) next season.
On the mound, freshman Michael Schuler is the leader for the Hawks as he is 5-3 with a 4.33 ERA and 51 strikeouts.
On the mound, freshman Michael Schuler is the leader for the Hawks as he is 5-3 with a 4.33 ERA and 51 strikeouts.
Scouting FSW:
The Buccaneers, who are ranked #15 in the nation, are coming off of sweeping South Florida State College by scores of 5-2, 5-1 and 5-1.
Redshirt sophomore Christian Lucio leads the Buccaneers batting .348 with 11 home runs and 44 RBI. Freshman Abimelec Ortiz follows along with nine home runs and 43 RBI while batting .356.
The freshman duo of Alex Ayala Jr and Carlos Rodriguez are both 7-2 on the mound. Ayala Jr has a 3.02 ERA, one save and 78 strikeouts, while Rodriguez is throwing a 2.14 ERA and 62 strikeouts.
Sophomore Antonio Knowles is the Buccaneers lead closer with 11 saves while going 1-1 with a 0.94 ERA and 50 strikeouts.
Series History:
Overall the Manatees are 42-20 against the Hawks and 19-8 against the Buccaneers. They claimed the series against HCC winning two game to one, but loss the series two games to one to FSW.
Livestats will be provided for all six games. In the series against FSW, games one and three will air on the FSW Athletics website while game two will air on the SCF Sports Network.
Livestats Link:
https://gc.com/t/spring-2021/state-college-of-florida-baseball-21-6006c9046d2f825a1c98e005
Livestream Link:
Games One and Three - https://www.fswbucs.com/fswbucslive
Game Two - https://www.scfmanatees.com/fan_zone/SCF_Sports_Network
Livestream Link:
Games One and Three - https://www.fswbucs.com/fswbucslive
Game Two - https://www.scfmanatees.com/fan_zone/SCF_Sports_Network
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