SAINT LEO, Fla. – In a Sunshine State Conference (SSC) series opener at home against Barry that featured a 45-minute delay, the 19th-ranked Saint Leo baseball team earned a 13-6 victory on Friday night.
The Buccaneers were able to get on the board first after an RBI-single up the middle in the first, 1-0. The Lions answered back in the bottom of the second as they rattled off six runs as graduate student
Luke Houin scored on a wild pitch followed by classmate
Yazael Nunez reaching home on a bases-loaded walk. Senior
Josh Davis highlighted the scoring with a three-run triple to right center to give the Green and Gold a 5-1 cushion before junior Callen Moss drove in Davis on a single to center field, 6-1.
Barry trimmed its deficit to 5-4 over the third and fourth inning, however, Saint Leo went on to extend its by one as Moss tripled to center field to bring Davis across home plate, 6-4. In the bottom of the sixth, senior
Cooper Miles batted-in Moss before graduate student
Buck Anderson and Houin each recorded an RBI in the seventh, stretching the Lions' advantage to 9-5. In the eighth, the Buccaneers scored a run to make the score 9-6. Saint Leo shut the door on a comeback as it tallied four runs in the bottom half of the eighth.
A total of eight players for the Lions were able to score runs in addition to four having a multi-hit performance. Davis finished the game 2-for-4 with a trio of RBI and two runs scored, Moss went 2-for-4 at the dish with three RBI while being walked twice. Houin tallied two hits in three at-bats. Senior
Caleb Adams and sophomore
Dylan Mass both walked three times during the game.
On the mound, senior
Brayden Heidel started for the Lions. He notched one strikeout while allowing five hits and three runs in 2.2 innings on the bump. In relief, senior
Drew Rudsinski earned the win as he struck out a pair of batters while only surrendering three hits in 3.0 innings on the hill.
Saint Leo returns to the field, tomorrow, Saturday, March 2 as it concludes its weekend series versus Barry with a doubleheader, starting at 11 a.m.