Baseball team heads into final weekend in middle of playoff race

The Eastern Florida State College baseball team heads into the final series of the regular season tied for fourth place in the Citrus Conference standings.

The Titans are in the hunt for a playoff spot for the first time since the 2017 season. Eastern Florida State College is on a five-game win streak and has won nine of the past 11 games heading into the series with Miami Dade College.

Eastern Florida State College is 17-13 in the conference, tied with the State College of Florida-Manatee who the Titans swept last week. Miami Dade College is 15-15 and tied for the sixth spot with Seminole State College. The Titans are one game behind the College of Central Florida who begin the week 18-12.

"The guys are extremely excited to just suit up and play, it's always tough at the end of the season because you are dealing with injuries and tired bodies," Eastern Florida State College baseball coach Steven Brown said. "Momentum is a big deal. That is what we are talking about this week is creating momentum to get into the regional and carry that into the postseason."

One player with a lot of momentum is freshman Jason Mack, who has been on a hot streak of late and is hitting .555 over the past 10 games. He has a four-game hitting streak and has a hit in eight of the last 10 games. He was named the FCSAA Division I Player of the Week on Tuesday.

Sophomore Kevin Smith continues to be a spark plug for the Titans at the top of the batting order. The Port St. Lucie native is hitting .327 this season with four home runs. He had two more stolen bases on Saturday and now leads the FCSAA with 40 on the season. The 40 stolen bases is the most in Titans history.

Sophomore Owen Simmons has been the Game 1 starter for the Titans all season and comes into the final regular season series 5-4 with a 3.71 ERA in 13 starts and his 69 strikeouts is fifth in the FCSAA. Teammate Michael Benedict has been solid as the No. 3 starter down the stretch and is fourth in the FCSAA with a 3.19 ERA.

"It all starts with the starting pitching and the good thing about this group is if the starter doesn't have his good stuff or things don't go well, we have plenty of guys with unique arm angles, right side or left side that can fill up the strike zone and get outs," Brown said.

Thursday's series opener will be at 6 p.m. in Miami with the series coming to Bruce Bochy Field on Sunday for a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. Admission for Sunday's doubleheader is free and fans can watch the games live online at the EFSC Titans YouTube page.