"I'm very proud of the guys and how they played today," said head coach Tim Hill II. "It's always good to get a conference win no matter who it is. Our pitchers did a very good job and Miguel (Larreal), Kyle (Harbison) and Kevin (Karstetter) swung the bats well. We had some good at-bats throughout the game and kept scoring almost every inning."
"The team did great," said sophomore Kyle Harbison. "That was a huge team win for us that was completed with all hands on deck. (Christian) Gordon and Mikey (Murphy) did tremendous on the mound for us and I can't ask for more out of those guys."
"We played great overall baseball today with double digit hits and walks while our pitching was very well against a good offense," said freshman Michael Murphy. "Coach Batson coached a great game today as well."
Hill II was not at the game, so associate head coach Barry Batson took over for him. Batson would send sophomore Christian Gordon to the mound, while FSW head coach Ben Bizier went with sophomore Frank Elissalt.
After the first inning went scoreless, the Manatees would take the early lead in the bottom of the second beginning with a leadoff double by sophomore Harrison Long. After classmate Brandon Fields hit a single, sophomore Kyle Harbison would load the bases after reaching on an error for classmate Jake Jackson, who would draw a walk to bring in Long for the first run before freshman Gabe Wright hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Fields. After sophomore Miguel Larreal hit into a fielder's choice, Harbison would take advantage of a fielding error and score to make it 3-0 SCF.
In the bottom of the third, the Manatees extended the lead further to 5-0 as Harbison would bring in sophomore Owen Ayers as well as himself with a two-run homer for his fifth of the season.
"In my first at-bat, the guy (Elissalt) beat me pretty good with an inside fastball," said Harbison on hitting the home run. "So coming up for the second at-bat I knew, I wasn't going to let him beat me again with the fastball and I think it was safe to say I won that time."
Meanwhile, on the mound, Murphy, who took over the mound at the top of the second inning for Gordon, kept a sharp eye to keep the Manatees' lead up while strategizing on keeping the Buccaneers from scoring.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Manatees continued with their run support. After they loaded the bases from a single by sophomore Kevin Karstetter and back-to-back walks issued to Ayers and Long, Fields would send a sacrifice fly to center to bring in Karstetter. After Harbison drew a walk to reload the bases, Jackson would reach on a fielding error while bringing in Ayers and Long to make it 8-0 SCF.
At the top of the fifth, the Buccaneers would finally get on the board thanks to a sacrifice fly by sophomore Jose Izarra and an RBI single by sophomore Hunter Fitz-Gerald to make it 8-2 still in SCF's favor.
In the bottom half of the fifth, Karstetter would send a double to left to bring in freshman Tayden Hall to extend it back to 9-2 SCF. In the bottom of the sixth, the Manatees would get into double digit runs as Larreal would double to right to bring in Jackson to make it 10-2 SCF.
At the top of the seventh, Fitz-Gerald would send a two-run homer to right to cut the Manatees lead to 10-4, but in the bottom half the Manatees swatted it as Karstetter and Long would score on another Buccaneers fielding error to make it 12-4.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Manatees wanted to end the game once and for all for the mercy rule to be in effect. After a Larreal single, a Hall double and a Karstetter walk to load the bases, Larreal would score on a passed ball before Ayers drew a walk to reload the bases for Long. With one final look, the former Jacksonville University Dolphin would draw a walk and bring in Hall to win the game.
"It felt great to beat those guys, not only to win but to 10-run them at home on a Saturday," said Harbison. "That's what you live for as a college ball player. The big wins at home will always mean more."
"It felt great run-ruling a good team like that and taking care of business on our home field after a tough game yesterday," said Murphy.
Gordon would get a no-decision after throwing a scoreless inning with two walks and three strikeouts. Murphy would move to 2-0 after giving up two runs on five hits with three walks in four innings of relief.
"I felt good about my effort on the mound along with the rest of the staff," said Murphy on his game. "I kept it simple and got outs when we needed them."
Freshman Gavin Adams gave up two runs on three hits with three walks and two strikeouts in two innings of relief, while classmate Michael Ojeda threw a scoreless inning of relief with two strikeouts.
Elissalt would fall to 3-3 after giving up five runs (four earned) on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts in two and two-thirds innings.
The Buccaneers remaining pitchers gave up a combined nine runs (six earned) on eight hits with eight walks and six strikeouts in 5.1 innings of relief.
Offensively, Larreal and Karstetter lead the way in hitting with three hits apiece. Larreal (3-for-5) added one RBI, one run, one walk and one stolen base, while Karstetter (3-for-5) added one RBI, two runs, a walk and a stolen base.
Hall and Long both had two hits apiece. Hall (2-for-5) added two runs scored, while Long (2-for-4) added an RBI, three runs and two walks.
Harbison was 1-for-3, with a home run, two RBI, two runs and two walks. He was the only Manatees with a multi-RBI game.
Fields (1-for-4, one RBI and one run) and Wright (1-for-4, one RBI) had the remaining two hits, while Ayers (three walks and two runs), Jackson (one RBI, one run and two walks) also contributed in the game.
Fitz-Gerald lead the Buccaneers offense as he went 2-for-3 with a home run, three RBI and one walk. He was the only Buccaneer to have a multi-RBI game. Freshman Satchell Norman also had two hits as he went 2-for-4 with a run, while Izarra was 1-for-2 with the remaining RBI.
Other Suncoast Scores:
Polk State (31-15, 16-7 Suncoast) defeated Hillsborough (16-28, 6-17 Suncoast) 5-3 on the road.
St. Pete College (14-28, 4-20 Suncoast) will face TNXL Tampa Monday night, April 18 at 5 pm.
Suncoast Standings:
1. #7 FSW (34-14, 19-3)
2. Polk State (31-15, 16-7)
3. SCF (28-20, 13-10)
4. HCC (16-28, 6-17)
5. SPC (14-28, 4-20)
Up Next:
The Manatees will return to action in a rubber match against #7 FSW Monday afternoon, April 18 at 3 pm at City of Palms Park.
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