FINAL:  Saint Leo 15, Eckerd 12 – (Saint Leo, Fla. – Thomas B. Southard Stadium)

SAINT LEO STARTERS:  Newcomb (CF), Vitale (3B), Twitty (RF), Moses (LF), Revell (1B), Rawdow (2B), Torres (C), Turner (DH), Perez (SS), Miller (P)

ECKERD STARTERS: Andrews (SS), Bishop (LF), Spinelle (3B), Hanson (1B), Vavasis (RF), Moreau (2B), Abadal (DH), Petika (C), O'Rourke (CF), Hill (P)

AT A GLANCE: Saint Leo (32-14-1) overcame a 9-1 fifth inning deficit to top the visiting Eckerd College Tritons, 15-12. Saint Leo rallied for 10 runs in the sixth inning to surge past Eckerd in the non-conference regional matchup.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Eckerd got out to an early lead, scoring three runs in the top of the first on home runs from Lee Spinelle and Shane Bishop.
• An inning later the Tritons tacked on an additional run on a sacrifice fly from Jake O'Rourke.
• The Lions finally got on the board for one run in the third inning when Chris Newcomb led off with a double and came home on a sacrifice fly from Taed Moses.
• Eckerd fired right back in the fourth though, scoring five runs on five hits in the evening.
• Trailing 9-1 going into the fifth inning, the Lions scored two runs to cut the Triton lead to six. After Dillon Vitale reached on an error and Twitty singled to shortstop, Revell singled up the middle to bring home Vitale from third. The second run of the inning was forced home as Daniel Torres drew a walk.
• The scoring fest continued in the next half inning when Eckerd scored once again, this time coming on a passed ball after a pair of singles to start the inning.
• The Lions, having shown signs of a huge inning the inning before, exploded for 10 runs in the sixth to take a 13-10 lead.  16 batters came to the plate to score 10 runs on four hits and two errors by the Tritons' defense with RBI coming from Frank Rawdow, Daniel Torres, Nick Gill, Taylor Perez, Newcomb, Twitty, and Revell.
• Eckerd scored a pair of runs in the top of the seventh to make it a one run game, getting RBI from O'Rourke and Rowdy Andrews.
• The Lions added a few insurance runs in the bottom half of the inning when Gill led off with a hit by pitch and scored when Moses was plunked. Perez, who singled earlier in the inning, came home on a walk drawn by Revell.

KEY CONTRIBUTORS

• Newcomb led the way at the plate, going 4-for-5 with two doubles and two RBI while scoring three runs.
• Going 3-for-4 at the dish was Rawdow while also scoring a run and driving in a run.
• Twitty and Perez each tallied two hits and scored two runs.
• Earning the win on the mound for the Lions was Austin Buck. Buck tossed 1.2 innings, allowing two runs and two hits.
• Brandon Terry threw the final 2.1 innings to earn the save, giving up just two hits while not giving up a run.

NEXT UP

The Lions return to the field on Friday when they welcome the Florida Southern Mocs to Thomas B. Southard Stadium for a three-game series. First pitch on Friday night is set for 6:00 p.m.