Flagler Scoring Spree Sinks Panthers

Nick Capra - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography
The Florida Tech baseball team dropped their second game of the season on Wednesday, as Flagler came up with 11 runs in last four innings, en route to a 14-5 victory.

Florida Tech (6-2) got some early offense with two runs in the bottom of the first against Flagler starter Louis Pugliese. John Sternagel singled to lead off the inning and later scored on an error. Daniel Szpik grounded out, scoring Reid Neal, who singled earlier in the inning. That gave Florida Tech an early 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first.

The lead was short-lived, as the Saints (7-1) came back with two more runs in the top of the second, courtesy of a Dylan Jones two-run double against Panthers starter Grant Willcoxon. That gave the visitors a 3-2 advantage.

The Panthers tied things up in the bottom of the frame, thanks to a Nick Capra homer to lead things off. Zac Orchard then walked and stole second. He moved to third one out later, on a passed ball and scored on a single by Neal, upping the Panthers lead to 4-3.

In the bottom of the third, the Panthers would score their final run of the game. Szpik doubled with one out and came home on a James Gronberg single. Pugliese’s day was done at that point, with Nick Martinez coming on in relief. Capra was hit by a pitch and moved up on an illegal pitch, but he was stranded there.

Sam Crocker was tapped to start the top of the fourth for the Panthers, with Willcoxon giving up three runs (two earned) on five hits. He walked one and struck out two.
Crocker would pitch well for two innings, before running into trouble in the sixth. He would give up a run scoring hit, walk one and throw a wild pitch before Jones struck again with a two-run double, giving Flagler a 6-5 lead.

They would tack on two more in the seventh, two in the eighth and four in the ninth. The Panthers would use five more pitchers after Crocker, who took the loss. The Saints tagged them for a combined 18 hits.

Florida Tech will look to rebound from this loss, as they take on Spring Hill in Mobile, Alabama in a three-game series, starting Saturday at 6:00 p.m. They will play the first game of a doubleheader, Sunday at 3:00 p.m.



This blog is an extension of our website - Sportslowdown.com Follow us on Twitter @sports_lowdown

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Florida Tech Men’s Soccer Falls to Tampa

Image
The Tampa Spartans spoiled Senior Night in Melbourne, beating Florida Tech 3-1 in a Sunshine State Conference Men’s Soccer match on Saturday. The Panthers had their chances throughout the contest, firing 20 shots (11 on goal) in the loss, with 16 of those coming in the second half. Tampa (9-3-2, 4-3-1 SSC) jumped in front when Mike Ciluffo went one-on-one in the box, beat the defender and then beat Panthers’ goaltender Christian Moerch, giving the Spartans a 1-0 lead 13:25 into the match. The goal was one of eight shots Tampa took in the first half. Florida Tech (8-3-1, 5-3 SSC) did not have a shot on goal in the first half and took just four shots total. This was unfamiliar territory for the Panthers, who usually get off a good number of shots in each half. Credit to Tampa’s defense for shutting down the Panthers offensive attack in the first 45 minutes.   The Spartans scored the eventual game winner just 2:12 into the second half, off the foot of Jake Winship, gi
Read more

Panthers Snake-Bitten by Turnovers at UWA

Image
The Florida Tech Panthers and West Alabama Tigers put on an offensive show in their Gulf South Conference meeting on Saturday, with the Tigers coming out on top, 45-35. With the loss, the Panthers will likely have to win all three of their remaining games, to make the playoffs. In our conversation with Panthers head coach Steve Englehart on Thursday, he was adamant that if the Panthers won the turnover battle , they would win the game. Unfortunately, the visitors lost four of their five fumbles, including one on the final play of the third quarter that resulted in a scoop and score for West Alabama. This was an 0ld-fashioned shootout from the start, with the teams combining for 1,147 yards of total offense. The Panthers had 643 yards, setting a school record and Quarterback Mark Cato passed for 502 yards, also a school record. On just about any other day, those numbers would translate into a win, but on this day, the turnovers kept that from happening. “You’re not goi
Read more

FIT Women’s Soccer Falls 3-2 at Tampa

Image
The Florida Tech Women’s Soccer team dropped their final conference match of the season on Saturday night, as they were beaten by the Tampa Spartans 3-2, at Pepin Stadium. The Spartans only took three shots in the first half, but one of them found the back of the net, when Nastasia Asgedom took a crossing pass from Gabby Scirica in the box and rifled it by Panthers goaltender Karlyn Prisco , giving the home squad a 1-0 lead. It took just 2:45 for the Panthers to get the equalizer when Senior Aubri Williamson beat Spartans keeper Caroline Frykgard. Those were the only goals scored by either team in the first 45 minutes and the teams went to the locker room tied 1-1. Tampa (6-7-2) dented the scoreboard again 10:54 into the second half when Sarah Raymond found Ali Robinson with a crossing pass and Robinson headed it past Prisco, giving Tampa their second lead of the contest, 2-1. The Panthers (9-5, 4-5 SSC) even things up again in the 76 th minute when Lauren Bolhuis
Read more