Florida State College at Jacksonville baseball played Lake-Sumter State College (LSSC) in the opening weekend of Sun-Lakes Conference play. FSCJ fell in the first two games before winning the final game of the series. This takes their record to 7-10 (1-2).
Lake-Sumter 3, FSCJ 2 (10 innings)
It took extra innings to decide the winner of the opening game of the series. FSCJ took a 2-0 lead in the game on a first inning Aidan Hampton sacrifice fly that scored Alex Monile, who singled to lead off the game, and then a fifth inning RBI groundout by Ashton Nugent. LSSC capitalized on BlueWave miscues to score one in the sixth and again in the seventh to force extra innings. The game was locked at 2-2 until the bottom of the tenth inning, when two FSCJ fielding errors put the game out of reach. Monile had a multi-hit game. Matt Retamoza contributed a double. Brady Ellison started on the mound for the Wave, throwing 4.2 scoreless innings, allowing two hits, three walks, and striking out seven. Jayden Long (2.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K), Dylan Cope (2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K), and Joshua Rouw (L, 1-2, 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 K) pitched in relief.
Lake-Sumter 3, FSCJ 2
FSCJ fell by the same margin in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader, this time in seven innings. After Lake-Sumter pushed one across in the bottom of the first, the BlueWave were able to gain the lead in the top of the third on a Sean Esquinaldo RBI groundout and a Ashton Nugent RBI single, making it 2-1. LSSC would take the lead once more in the bottom of the fifth with some timely two-out hits. Aidan Hampton and Alex Monile had doubles for FSCJ. Cayden Robinson was the starting pitcher, going 1.2 innings, allowing one run on two hits, three walks, and two strikeouts. Gant Geiger (2-1) took the loss, going 4.1 innings, allowing two runs (1 earned), on three hits, zero walks, and three strikeouts.
FSCJ 9, Lake-Sumter 8
The long game on Sunday in Jacksonville lived up to the billing of the previous two games, also having a one-run result. FSCJ took an early 5-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning, all with two outs. Billy Girgis got the party started with an RBI single, followed by a Matt Retamoza 3-RBI double and a wild pitch. LSSC scratched across single runs in the third and fifth innings before putting up their own big inning, scoring four in the sixth to take a 7-5 lead. The BlueWave would respond with a four-spot of their own in the bottom half of the sixth, again with two outs. Retamoza had an RBI single and Carson Womer collected a huge 3-RBI double to flip the lead to 9-7 FSCJ. The LakeHawks would not go away quietly, as they made it a one-run game by scoring again in the eighth. Ultimately, the score would hold for a 9-8 victory for FSCJ. Retamoza went 4 for 5 with 2 runs scored and 4 RBI. Womer went 2 for 3 with 1 run scored, 3 RBI, and a walk. Aidan Hampton went 3 for 4 with a run scored. Jaden Paradoa gritted out 5 innings as the starter, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits, walking 2 and striking out 3. Dylan Cope and Ethan Wilford combined for 2.1 innings of one-run relief. Joshua Rouw collected his 3rd save, retiring all four batters he faced to end the game.
What's Next?
FSCJ will have a midweek match up with Edward Waters University JV on Wednesday (2/28) at 2:00 PM. Weekend number two of Sun-Lakes Conference play will see FSCJ battle with St. Johns River State College, first in Palatka on Friday (3/1) at 5:00 p.m. and then in Jacksonville on Saturday (3/2) for a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader.