"This was a really big win for us tonight on the road," said head coach Tim Hill II. "It was a very tight game. Polk's pitcher threw really well against us until we scored some runs late. Looking forward to Ed giving us a really good start tomorrow."
"We came in today knowing we had a job to do," said sophomore Mario Lopez Jr. "This game was big for us. It was a team effort and took everyone to get it done tonight
Hill sent freshman Michael Forret to the mound, while Polk State head coach Al Corbeil went with freshman Evan Koehler.
For the first four innings of the game, it was a pitcher's duel between Forret and Koehler as they exchanged strikeouts with Forret leading the way. It remained scoreless until the bottom of the fifth as freshman Damion Nealy would hit an RBI double, which would be followed by an RBI single off the bat of classmate Roberto Odor for a 2-0 Polk State. Forret would brush it off and looked to the Manatees offense to step up.
At the top of the sixth, the Manatees did so at the plate as Lopez would hit a single and bring in freshman Erick Almonte to cut the Eagles lead to 2-1.
While Forret put himself in double digit strikeouts, the Manatees would not back down and rallied their way at the top of the eighth. At the time, Corbeil would send his closer, freshman Ryan Combs, to the mound for a two-inning save opportunity. After a leadoff walk by Almonte and sacrifice bunt by sophomore Kevin Karstetter to move Almonte to second, classmate Lucas Ismaili would bring in Almonte with a single and tie the game at 2-2. Eventually, the Manatees took their first lead of the game as Lopez towered a two-run homer to left for his fifth of the season and make it 4-2 SCF.
"I knew the game was tied going into my next at-bat," said Lopez. "I just had to get into a hitter's count and look for my pitch and stick to my approach. Once I got the pitch, I could not miss it, so I was trying to hit it hard somewhere and put my team into position to score."
At the top of the ninth, the Manatees added some extra insurance to maintain their lead beginning with a leadoff double by sophomore Austin Dearing. After classmates Liam Moreno and Richie Morales were hit by a pitch to load the bases, Almonte would send a single to right-center and bring in Dearing and Moreno while advancing to second on the throw. Karstetter would bring in Morales with a sacrifice fly. As Ismaili drew a walk, Almonte seized the opportunity to score off of a wild pitch to make it 8-2 SCF.
From there, sophomore Connor Hults, despite walking two, would shut the door in the bottom of the ninth and seal the deal for the Manatees.
Forret would improved to 10-2 on the season. He would give up two runs on five hits with two walks and a career-high 15 strikeouts in eight innings. Hults would throw one scoreless inning of relief with two walks and two strikeouts.
"Michael was the story of the game," said Hill on Forret. "He was outstanding."
Koehler would earn a no-decision after giving up one run on five hits with one walk and seven strikeouts in seven innings. Combs would fall to 6-3 after giving up seven runs on four hits with two walks in two innings of relief. It was his fourth blown save of the season.
Lopez would be the overall leader in offense as he went 2-for-3 with a home run, two RBI and a walk. Almonte would follow as he went 2-for-3 with two RBI, three runs, one walk and one stolen base.
Karstetter and Ismaili brought in the remaining RBI for the Manatees. Karstetter (1-for-3) added a stolen base, while Ismaili (1-for-4) added one run and one walk.
Dearing (1-for-4, one run) and sophomore Brayden Woodburn (1-for-5) had the remaining two hits, while Moreno (one run and one walk) also contributed in the game.
For the Eagles, sophomore Travis Stapleton lead the way in hitting as he finished 2-for-3 with a walk.
Other Suncoast Scores:
St. Pete (17-27, 8-13 Suncoast) defeated Hillsborough (11-37, 5-16 Suncoast) 8-3.
Suncoast Conference Standings:
1. SCF (30-22, 16-5)#
2. Polk State (31-19, 13-8)#
3. St. Pete (17-27, 8-13)
4. Hillsborough (11-37, 5-16)
#Clinched Playoff Spot
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