Baseball team picks up pair of wins at home Saturday
The Eastern Florida State College baseball team used some strong pitching and big hits to sweep a doubleheader Saturday against Daytona State College.
The Titans took the series and are now 14-13 in the Citrus Conference after winning 4-0 and then 9-1 at Bruce Bochy Field.
Nathan Hook got the start in the first game and tossed three shutout innings, striking out four. He handed the ball to Kenneth Robinson who also tossed three shutout innings before Houston Wills came in to pick up the two-inning save.
First baseman Gustavo Mendez powered the offense, hitting a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning. It was the first home run of the season for Mendez. Then in the sixth inning Mendez came up with two runners on and laced a double, scoring both runners and giving the Titans a 4-0 lead.
Mendez went 2-for-3 while Kevin Smith had a double in the win.
In Game 2, Michael Benedict had his best outing of the season and the Titans offense exploded in the seventh inning.
Benedict struck out the side in the first inning and five of the first six outs on his way to a career-high 10 strikeouts over six shutout innings. The sophomore allowed just three hits and walked one in the win, his fourth of the season.
In the fourth inning Mendez led off with a solo home run over the right field wall, his second of the day to give the Titans a 1-0 lead.
Up 3-0, the Titans batted around in the seventh inning, scoring six times including an RBI single by Jeff Davis to end the game.
Davis finished with two hits, scoring twice while Nick Paszt also had two hits, driving in two runs.
Eastern Florida State College, who is now 26-18 on the season, will open a Citrus Conference series against the State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota. It will be a battle of top five teams as SCF-Manatee is third in the standings at 17-10.
The opener will begin Thursday night at 6 p.m. at Bruce Bochy Field. Admission is free to games on the Melbourne campus. Fans can also watch the game live online at the EFSC Titans YouTube page.
