Baseball Shuts Out Indian River State

Bradenton, Fla - The RV SCF baseball team (26-13, 14-8 Citrus) continued their work in Citrus Conference play as they shutout #6 Indian River State (27-9, 17-5 Citrus) 4-0 at Wynn Field.

"I thought the guys did a good job, especially Aidan (Ray) and Cole (Dement)," said head coach Tim Hill II. "Anytime you throw a shutout, something good had to have happened. I didn't think we swung the bats very well and we left a ton of runners on base, but Indian River also left a ton of runners on base. We're looking to improve our hitting this Saturday and to get another strong pitching performance from both Lochlan (Radloff) and Oscar (Hernandez). This is a big series for both teams and Indian River has a very good ball club and are well coached. We need to play at our best on Saturday. "

"I felt the team did really good overall," said freshman Aidan Ray. "We started off hot and we were solid the rest of the game, which is what a championship team does when we are headed in the right direction."

"I thought the team did really good overall," said redshirt freshman Cole Dement. "We did start leaving a couple of runners on base, but at the end of the day we got the hits we needed and got some runs up. Our pitch was stellar and I have to give credit to Aidan (Ray) for six shutout innings, which is all we can ask for in a pitcher."

"I felt like the team did very well," said freshman Myles Davis. "Pitching was the story of the game thanks to Aidan and Cole and hitters did well today against some good arms, which was enough to get the job done."

Hill II sent Ray (2-0, 4.01 ERA) to the mound, while Indian River Statr head coach Frank Torre Jr. went with sophomore Lucas Glendinning (5-0, 2.55 ERA) to counter.

The Manatees would get on the board first in the bottom of the first as sophomore Allan Gil Fernandez would send an infield single to the shortstop to bring in freshman Mattie Counts. The Manatees would then extend their lead in the bottom of the second. After Counts (hit by a pitch), sophomore CJ Richard (single) and redshirt sophomore Connor O'Sullivan (walk) loaded the bases, Davis would then draw a walk and bring in Richard before classmate Holden Brauner brought in O'Sullivan after being hit by a pitch to make it 3-0 SCF.

After a scoreless third, Davis would increase the Manatees' lead further in the bottom of the fourth on a 2-1 count as the Iowan would send a solo homer to center off the centerfielder's glove for his second home run of the season.

"It felt good just trying to get on base," said Davis on his home run. "I just happened to hit it well enough on and it snuck out."

Meanwhile, Ray would get himself into a small jam with the bases loaded, but strong defense and hustle would get sophomore Maikol Lucena to popout to freshman Ben Ryan to end the inning.

After Ray finished the sixth with two strikeouts, Hill would send redshirt freshman Cole Dement to the mound for relief. After loading the bases full of Pioneers, the defense would not back down as sophomore Jake Weatherspoon would ground to sophomore Mario Trivella into a fielder's choice to end the seventh.

Dement would get into another bases loaded jam, but would not be fazed as the local product from Lakewood Ranch High School would strikeout the final two batters to seal the shutout victory.

Ray would improve to 3-0 after throwing six shutout innings with three hit, three walks and five strikeouts. Dement threw three shutout innings of relief with three hits, one walk and six strikeouts.

"I felt really good on the mound," said Ray. "The slider was here and there, but with the fastball I felt I could really place it."

"I thought I didn't feel as good as I could because I put some balls in place where they shouldn't be," said Dement. "Thanks to Hayden (Gustavson) behind the plate, I was still able to get six strikeouts, which was great with the curveball and splitter really helped me."

Glendinning would fall to 5-1 after giving up four runs (three earned) on four hits with three walks and six strikeouts. Freshman Javi Miranda threw four scoreless innings of relief with three hits, one walk and seven strikeouts.

Gil Fernandez would leading in the way with the Manatees' lone multi-hit game as he went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Davis would be the offensive leader as he went 1-for-4 with a home run, two RBI and a walk.

Ryan (1-for-4), Richard (1-for-3, one run), O'Sullivan (1-for-3, one run and one walk) and sophomore Hayden Guatavson (1-for-3, one walk) had the remaining hits for the Manatees.

For the Pioneers, sophomore Brett Patten lead the way in hitting as he went 2-for-5 at the plate.

Other Citrus Conference Scores:

#19 Central Florida 11, Hillsborough 7

#10 Florida Southwestern 9, Santa Fe 0 (7)

Miami Dade 17, Daytona State 7 (8)

Eastern Florida State 7, Polk State 4

St. Pete 9, Seminole State College of Florida 7

Citrus Conference Standings:

1. #6 Indian River State (27-9, 17-5)

2. #10 Florida Southwestern (29-9, 15-7)

3. RV SCF (26-13, 14-8)

4. #19 Central Florida (28-11, 13-9)

5. Eastern Florida State (22-16, 11-11)

6. Miami Dade (21-17, 11-11)

7. Polk State (22-20, 11-11)

8. Santa Fe (19-20, 10-12)

9. Seminole State College of Florida (21-18, 9-13)

10. Daytona State (11-22, 9-13)

11. Hillsborough (16-21, 8-14)

12. St. Pete (6-30, 4-18)

Up Next:

The Manatees look to take the series over Indian River State as they will travel to Fort Pierce to take them on at Mike Eason Field Saturday afternoon, April 5 at 1 and 4 pm. Freshman Lochlan Radloff (5-3, 3.88 ERA) will start game, while sophomore Oscar Hernandez (6-3, 4.06 ERA) will start game two.