MELBOURNE, Fla. – The seventh-ranked Saint Leo baseball team swept Florida Tech on the road in a Sunshine State Conference (SSC) doubleheader and earned the series win. The Lions won game one by a 13-7 margin followed by a 9-7 victory in extra innings during game two.
Game One: #7 Saint Leo 13, Florida Tech 7
After the Panthers gained a 1-0 lead in the second, the Lions struck back as sophomore
Dylan Mass sacrifice-flied to center field to score classmate
Ryan Crivello followed by Crivello crossing home plate on a wild pitch later in the fifth to give Saint Leo a 2-1 edge. However, Florida Tech countered with a four-run bottom of the fifth as it led by a 5-2 margin. Junior Callen Moss stopped the Panther run with a solo bomb to left field, 5-3, in the sixth.
Florida Tech scored a pair of runs in the bottom half of the sixth to stretch its advantage to 7-3. The mounted momentum in the seventh while Mass recorded an RBI-double followed by senior
Josh Davis' sacrifice-fly, scoring Mass, 7-5. The Green and Gold jumped ahead with a three-run homer from senior
Mikey Scott to give the Lions an 8-7 edge. In the eighth, graduate student
Buck Anderson posted an RBI-single to right field as the Lions led 9-7. Saint Leo secured the victory in the ninth with a four-run inning while Crivello notched a two-run single to left field followed by freshman
Luis Rivero batting in Crivello on a sacrifice-fly before Anderson's single through the left side drove in senior
Caleb Adams.
Mass and Anderson completed the first game with a pair of hits and two RBI each. Moss collected two hits on four plate appearances, scored three runs and drove in a run. Scott notched two hits including his homer along with three RBI. Crivello went 2-for-3 at the dish with two RBI and three runs scored.
Senior
Aedan Walter started on the bump for the Lions in game one. He collected five strikeouts and surrendered five runs (four earned) on seven hits in 4.1 innings. In relief, senior
Evan Wolf earned the win as he pitched 2.2 innings and only allowed two runs on three hits.
Game Two: #7 Saint Leo 9, Florida Tech 7 (10 inn.)
In the top of the 10th, Adams blasted an RBI-single to score Crivello followed by Rivero launching an RBI-double to left center to give the Lions a 9-7 lead. Graduate student
Nick Jennings and the Lion defense shut down the Panther offense to secure the win as Florida Tech did not register a hit or get a player on base in the bottom of the 10th.
The Lions were the first ones on board following an RBI-double down the left field line from Moss. River gave Saint Leo a 3-1 edge in the second as he doubled while Crivello and graduate student
Yazael Nunez scored. Additionally, Mass collected an RBI-single to left field in the second to push the Green and Gold advantage to 4-1. In the fourth, Florida Tech tied the game up with a home run, 4-4. Junior
Nick Yedman posted a sacrifice-fly in the fifth before Crivello blasted an RBI-single in the sixth as the Lions led by a 6-4 margin. In the bottom of the sixth, the Panthers tied the game at 6-6 and eventually regained the lead in the eighth, 7-6. Anderson came through in the clutch with an RBI-single to left field to drive in junior
Dylan McDonald and helped sent the game into extras.
Mass and Crivello finished the night cap with two hits, one RBI and two runs scored each. Anderson had a pair of hits in five plate appearances in addition to one RBI. Rivero tallied two hits and two RBI while Moss recorded one hit and an RBI. On the mound, freshman
Russell Sandefer started and tallied six strikeouts while allowing four runs on six hits in 4.0 innings. Jenings collected the win as he pitched 2.2 innings and posted a pair of strikeouts.
Saint Leo returns to the diamond on Wednesday, March 20 as it hosts West Georgia in non-conference action at 5 p.m.
