Florida State College at Jacksonville baseball made the long trip down I-95 this weekend to tango with Palm Beach State College in a Sun-Lakes Conference matchup. Three close, hard fought games were the result with FSCJ taking two of three to secure the series victory, moving them into a three-way tie for fourth place in the conference.

Palm Beach 5, FSCJ 3

The first game of the weekend set the theme of close games from the start. A back-and-forth affair led to the home team taking game 1. PBSC drew first blood in the bottom of the 2^nd inning on a two-out two-RBI triple. FSCJ answered right back in the next half inning to tie the game at 2-apiece via a Alex Monile RBI double and a Carson Womer RBI groundout. The BlueWave would then take a 3-2 lead in the 4^th on a Monile RBI single. A two-run home run for the Panthers gave them a 4-3 lead in the 5^th and then added an insurance run in the 8^th to bring the final to 5-3. Monile led FSCJ with two hits and two RBI. Cayden Robinson (1-3) took the loss on the mound for FSCJ, going 6.2 innings, allowing 4 runs (1 earned), walking 3 and striking out 2. Jayden Long went the final 1.1 innings, allowing 1 run.

FSCJ 5, Palm Beach 2

FSCJ drew even on the series in game 2 on the back of ace lefty Brady Ellison. Ellison (3-3) shut down the Panther offense, throwing 6.1 innings, allowing only 1 earned run on 4 hits and 2 walks. Joshua Rouw collected his 4^th save of the season, getting the final 2 outs to seal the victory. The BlueWave offense put up crooked numbers in the 1^st (2 runs courtesy of back-to-back doubles by Alex Monile and Braden Kessel, and an RBI single by Carson Womer) and the 5^th (bases loaded wild pitch and Billy Girgis two-RBI single). Monile and Kessel had multi-hit games.

FSCJ 9, Palm Beach 8 (10 innings)

It took extra innings to determine the winner of the rubber match and the series on Saturday in Lake Worth. FSCJ jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the 1^st inning behind a wild pitch and a Billy Girgis two-RBI double. After a Panther run in the bottom of the 1^st cut the lead to 3-1, the BlueWave tagged on two more runs in the 4^th after a Aidan Hampton sacrifice fly and a Carson Womer RBI single. PBSC again cut the lead, this time to 5-2 going into the top of the 6^th, until 3 more runs came for the boys in blue after a Womer RBI double, Girgis RBI single, and Brooks Hicken RBI single to make it 8-2. The home team came roaring back in the bottom of the 6^th to score 4 of their own on a culmination of FSCJ walks, errors, and hits to make the score 8-6. That score would hold until the bottom of the 9^th, when a two-out two-RBI double by Palm Beach sent the game into extra innings. Womer again forced a run home with a single in the top of the 10^th to put FSCJ up for good, 9-8. Womer and Hicken each had three hits. Girgis also contributed a multi-hit game. Jaden Paradoa was the starting pitcher for FSCJ, going 5.1 innings, allowing 5 runs (1 earned) on 6 hits, 0 walks, and 4 strikeouts. Ethan Wilford provided 2 shutout innings of relief. Jayden Long (1-0) earned the win, going the final 1.1 innings, allowing 0 runs.

What's Next?

FSCJ will have a midweek matchup with the College of Central Florida on Tuesday (3/19) at 3:00 PM in Ocala. Weekend number five of SLC play will see FSCJ play host to South Florida State College for a three game series, starting on Friday at 5:00 PM and continuing on Saturday for a 12:00 PM doubleheader.