SCF Baseball Takes First Conference Series

Clearwater, Fla - The SCF baseball team (14-18, 3-1 Suncoast) sealed the first series of Suncoast Conference play as they defeated St. Pete College (7-17, 1-3 Suncoast) 10-0 in eight innings via mercy rule. With the win, the Manatees are now 45-12 against the Titans.

"Tonight was a good team win for us," said head coach Tim Hill II. "Jeremy (Weaver) was in complete control from the very beginning and did a complete job and showed some competitiveness on the mound. Mario (Lopez) and a few others had some nice days at a plate."

"It was a great team win," said sophomore Mario Lopez. "It's what we came into the conference to do. This team knows what we're capable of and we all have each other's back, but being able to execute it this series and start of the year right is huge. We have and we want to reach it together."

Hill sent freshman Jeremy Weaver to the mound, while SPC head coach Oscar Espada went with sophomore Tanner Goswick to counter.

The Manatees would strike early at the top of the first. After the Manatees loaded the bases thanks to a sophomores Brayden Woodburn (double), Kevin Karstetter (single) and Lucas Ismaili (walk), Lopez would clear the bases and bring in all three runners for a 3-0 SCF lead.

At the top of the third, the Manatees would double their lead. After a single by Ismaili and sophomore Victor Sanchez getting hit by a pitch before advancing to scoring position on a wild pitch, sophomore Ben Gilbert would ground a single to right and bring in Ismaili and Sanchez. After freshman Jalen Hairston hit a single, classmate Liam Moreno would send a fly ball to left and bring in Gilbert on a sacrifice fly to make it 6-0 SCF.

While the Manatees kept the 6-0 lead, Weaver was doing his part as he was able to get out of two situations with a runner on first and was able to get three strikeouts in the first three innings. The Winter Haven native would continue to do his part for the next two innings as he struck out four to earn a quality start.

At the top of the sixth, the Titans would make a pitching change as Espada would send freshman Jeffery Polledo to the mound. After the pitching change, the Manatees would add more to their lead on the offensive end beginning with a two-out walk by Woodburn before stealing second. After Karstetter reached first on a dropped third strikeout with Woodburn heading to third, Ismaili would ground a single to left to bring in Woodburn before Lopez showed off his bat yet again as the Tampa native would send a double to left and bring in Karstetter and Ismaili for a 9-0 SCF lead.

At the top of the eighth, the Manatees would add their final run on the board as Ismaili would send a single down the middle to bring in Woodburn to make it 10-0 SCF and invoke the 10-run mercy rule before Weaver finished the game with a final strikeout.

"Overall, I thought the team did great today," said Weaver. "We came to get ahead and came to play baseball. It felt great taking the first conference series. Coach Hill had faith in me to put me out there and I just did my job."

Weaver would get his second win after throwing a six hit shutout with three walks and a career-high 10 strikeouts.

"I felt like I was on the moon getting my first shutout in my collegiate career," said Weaver on his game. "I just felt great and I'm glad we put it together to get the win."

Goswick would fall to 0-4 after giving up six runs on seven hits with four walks and three strikeouts in five innings. Polledo would give up four runs (one earned) on four hits with one walk and five strikeouts in three innings of relief.

Seven Manatees had at least one hit with three getting a multi-hit game. Ismaili would lead the way overall in hitting as he went 3-for-4 with two RBI, three runs, one walk and one stolen base. Lopez lead the way offensively as he went 2-for-5 with a game career-high five RBI.

"I know I have prepared myself to be able to go out there and execute for my team," said Lopez on his game. "It's only a matter of me trusting myself and having confidence when I step into the box. I came to SCF to be the best teammate I can be and do my best every day out there on the field and being able to have the success at the plate today is humbling, but winning is what makes it better."

Hairston rounded out the order batting 2-for-4 with a stolen base, while Gilbert had a multi-RBI game as he went 1-for-3 with two RBI, one run and one walk.

Woodburn (1-for-3, three runs, one stolen base and two walks) and Karstetter (1-for-5, two runs) and sophomore Richie Morales (1-for-4) had the remaining three hits for the Manatees, while Sanchez (one run and one walk) and Moreno (one RBI and one walk) also contributed in the game.

For the Titans, freshman Brett Wagner would be the only player with a multi-hit game as he went 2-for-3 with a walk.

Notes:

Karstetter's one hit was his 182nd in his career and needs three more to surpass Al Corbeil (184, 1998-99) as the all-time leader in hits. Additionally, the hit pushed his hitting streak to 22 straight games and needs to hit in five straight games to set the record held by Tom McKay (26, 1967).

Woodburn's two walks put him at 38 this season and 78 in his career. He needs 22 to surpass Jody Reed (59; 1981-82) for the most walks in a single season and 32 to surpass Joey Collis (109; 1994-95) for most career walks.

Other Suncoast Scores:

Polk State (19-11, 4-0 Suncoast) defeated Hillsborough (6-22, 0-4 Suncoast) 6-5. The Eagles will play St. Pete for their next conference series.

Suncoast Conference Standings:

1. Polk State (19-11, 4-0)

2. SCF (14-18, 3-1)

3. St. Pete (7-17, 1-3)

4. Hillsborough (6-22, 0-4)

Up Next:

The Manatees will face Hillsborough for their next round of Suncoast Conference play (March 17, 18, 20, 22). Freshman Michael Forret will start game one on Friday and classmate Ed Wagner will start game two.