Florida State College at Jacksonville baseball traveled down to Ocala on Tuesday to battle with the defending national champion College of Central Florida Patriots.

Central Florida 9, FSCJ 7

Early offensive explosions by both teams gave way to a pitching dual late in the game as the two teams traded blows all game. FSCJ took an early 1-0 lead in the 1^st inning, cashing in on a Aidan Hampton RBI double. CF responded with four in the bottom half of the inning with a home run and two separate RBI singles. The BlueWave would respond to tie the game at 4-4 in the top of the second on RBI singles by Matt Retamoza and Braden Kessel. The homestanding Patriots would once again use the longball to regain the lead at 7-4 in the bottom of the 2^nd. A Billy Girgis RBI single tacked on the 5^th run for the BlueWave in the 3^rd, and Central Florida responded with one of their own. Single runs for FSCJ in the top of the 4^th (Alex Monile home run) and the 5^th (Monile RBI single) brought FSCJ within one at 8-7 in the top of the 5^th. That score would stay gridlocked outside of a solo home run for CF in the bottom of the 7^th, bringing the final to 9-7.

Monile led the Wave with two hits, including his first career home run. Girgis also had two hits. Brooks Hicken doubled. Dylan Peck (0-3) took the loss on the mound, going 1.1 innings, allowing 6 runs on 5 hits, 3 walks, and 2 strikeouts. Gant Geiger (3.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K), Connor Nelson (2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K), and Ethan Yesensky (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K) provided quality relief out of the bullpen.

What's Next?

Weekend number five of SLC play will see FSCJ play host to South Florida State College for a three game series, starting on Thursday for a 2:00 PM doubleheader and continuing on Friday with a 10:00 AM game.