Baseball Edges Northwest Florida in Regionals

Niceville, Fla - The #25 SCF baseball team (36-19) were able to open game one of regional play in tight-knit fashion as they defeated #18 Northwest Florida State (32-16) 13-9 in the Niceville Regional of the NJCAA Region 8 State Baseball Tournament.

"It was a very hard fought game," said head coach Tim Hill II. "I thought both sides played with a lot of intensity and energy. I thought we were in control of the game the entire way until the seventh and eighth inning got away from us a little bit, but during that ninth inning the guys had some tough at-bats that became clutch hits for a big win."

Hill II sent freshman Lochlan Radloff (7-4, 3.23 ERA) to the mound, while Northwest Florida State head coach Doug Martin went with freshman Cooper Powell (5-0, 4.19 ERA) to counter.

The Manatees would open on the board first beginning with a one-out walk by freshman Myles Davis. After a double by sophomore Allan Gil Fernandez, classmate Luke Boykin would send a double to left to bring in Davis and Gil Fernandez before freshman Ben Ryan brought in Boykin with a double of his own. One batter later, sophomore Hayden Gustavson would pop a single to right to bring in Ryan to make it 4-0 SCF.

In the bottom of the second, the Raiders put their first runs on the board as freshman Sam Bradley would send a leadoff solo home run to left for his 10th of the season before redshirt sophomore Preston Murphy sent a two-run homer to left for his first of the season and cut the Manatees lead to 4-3.

At the top of the third, the Manatees began to extend their lead beginning with Boykin hitting a solo home run to left for his 16th of the season. After Ryan drew a walk, sophomore Mario Trivella would show his power as he sent a two-run homer to left for his seventh of the season to make it 7-3 SCF.

After the next two innings went scoreless, the Manatees would increase the lead further as Davis would bring in sophomore CJ Richard with a two-run homer to left for his sixth of the season and bump the Manatees' lead to 9-3.

In the bottom of the seventh, after redshirt freshman Cole Dement came in for Radlofff, the Raiders started to catch up and cut the lead to 9-7 after two sacrifice flies by sophomores Matt Farner and David Alvarez and classmate Sylas Boris scoring on an error. One inning later, the score would be tied at 9-9 after an RBI single by sophomore Mathew Keller and an RBI double by freshman Tristan Bittle before sophomore Daniel Hartley was able to finish the inning.

At the top of the ninth, the Manatees would put together their finishing touches with the rally they needed. After back-to-back singles by Trivella and sophomore Walker Vanecek before freshman Will Rawls came in to pinch run for Vanecek, Gustavson would line a single to right and bring in Rawls to make it 10-9 SCF. One batter later, freshman Clayton Evans would give the Manatees some insurance runs as he sent a double to right to bring in Trivella and Gustavson before freshman Mattie Counts brought in Evans with a single to right to make it 13-9 SCF. From there, Hartley was able to get out of the inning and seal the victory for the Manatees.

Both Radloff and Powell would earn a no-decision from their starts. Radloff gave up seven runs on nine hits with two walks and two strikeouts in six and a third innings, while Powell gave up four runs on eight hits with two walks and two strikeouts in one and two-third innings.

Hartley would improve to 4-1 after giving up one run on four hits with four strikeouts in one and two-thirds innings of relief, while Dement gave up one run on no hits with one walk and two strikeouts in one inning of relief.

Sophomore Bryon Rincones would fall to 2-3 after giving up four runs on four hits in two-thirds of an inning of relief.

Five Manatees had a multi-hit game. It was Davis (3-for-5) and Gustavson (3-for-5) that lead the way in hitting as they each had three hits. Davis added two RBI, two runs and one walk, while Gustavson added two RBI, one run and one stolen base.

Boykin would lead the way offensively as he went 2-for-5 with a home run, two runs and three RBI, while Trivella (2-for-5) and freshman Holden Brauner (2-for-4) rounded out the order also with two hits each. Trivella would also add two runs and two RBI to the mix.

Richard (1-for-5, one run), Gil Fernandez (1-for-4, one run), Ryan (1-for-3, two runs, one RBI and one walk), Evans (1-for-4, two RBI, one run and two walks), Counts (1-for-1, one RBI) and Vanecek (1-for-1) had the remaining hits for the Manatees.

For the Raiders, Murphy would lead the way offensively as he went 3-for-4 with a home run, two runs and two RBI.

Other Regional Scores:

Pensacola State (27-19) defeated #7 Florida Southwestern (39-14) 12-6 in the Fort Myers Regional.

Central Florida (35-16) defeated #11 Indian River State (34-15) 13-4 in the Fort Pierce Regional.

Miami Dade (31-21) defeated #12 Gulf Coast State 5-3 in the Panama City Beach Regional.

Regional Schedule (May 2):

#25 SCF vs #18 Northwest Florida State (@2 pm/1 pm central) - Niceville Regional

#12 Gulf Coast State vs Miami Dade (@ 3 pm/ 2 pm central) - Panama City Regional

#11 Indian River State vs Central Florida (@1 pm/12 pm central) - Fort Pierce Regional

Up Next:

The Manatees will look to go for the sweep over Northwest Florida State Saturday afternoon, May 3 at 2 pm (1 pm eastern).