Sports Lowdown

Reid Neal - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography Following their 10-2 win on Friday , highlighted by a grand slam off the bat of Reid Neal , the Panthers continued their power surge on Saturday, with a sweep of a doubleheader. Florida Tech won game one, 9-4, helped by another Neal slam and they took game two, 5-3, with the decisive home run off the bat of Dan Szpik . David Wilson had home runs in both games. In game one, Barry jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, when Julian Abreu took FIT starter Tyler Deel over the right field wall, on a 1-0 pitch. In the top of the second, Florida Tech tied the game when Grant McKown took a 3-2 pitch from Barry starter Luis Deville, tying the game at one. That brought Neal to the plate and he wasted no time, drilling an 0-1 pitch over the wall in left-center, giving the Panthers a 5-1 lead. Szpik made a great diving catch in the bottom of the third, but a Justin Lamazares double and an error made it a 5-2 gam...

Ty Cohen - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The top of the Panthers order combined to go 9-for-15 on Friday night, leading the Florida Tech baseball team to a 10-2 conference victory over the Barry Buccaneers in the series opener. Reid Neal capped the game with a grand slam in the top of the ninth. The Panthers (19-13, 5-5 SSC) pounded out 16 hits and got a good performance from starting pitcher Ty Cohen , who went six innings, allowing eight hits and two earned runs. He threw 104 pitches, striking out four and walking one. Florida Tech got on the board first in the top of the second, against Barry starter Jonathan Hernandez. Nick Capra led off with a walk and went to second on a wild pitch. He came home one out later on a Ryan Sinzenich sacrifice fly. Barry (16-20, 3-7 SSC) matched that run in the bottom of the inning, on an RBI double by Alexis Monge. The tie didn’t last long, as the Panthers took the lead for good in the top of the third. Neal walked, ...

After a back-and-forth affair between Barry and Florida Tech in game one of Saturday’s doubleheader, the teams put on one heck of an encore, with Florida Tech pulling out a 14-13 victory at Nancy Bottge Field and earning a much-needed split. “That’s something I’m really proud of, these kids keep battling and never quit,” said Panthers coach Val Silvestrini after the game. “We had to come back in several situations.” A single by Hailey Leonard in the bottom of the seventh, drove in the 27 th run of the game and capped off over four hours of baseball between the two games.  The victory meant the Panthers avoided a sweep and more importantly, gave them their first conference win of the season. Things did not start well for Florida Tech, as Barry got an unearned run against starter Amanda Kahn , when shortstop Krista Patterson dropped a ball that would’ve ended the inning. After a fielder’s choice kept the inning going, Kahn got Avery Cotterill, swinging to end the ...

Lynsey Duncan spoiled a valiant Florida Tech comeback in game one of Saturday’s Sunshine State Conference showdown, as she laced a game-winning two-run single back up the middle, sending the Barry Buccaneers to a 7-5 win over Florida Tech. The loss was especially disheartening for the Panthers, who came from 4-1 down and 5-4 down, to force extra innings, only to have it slip away in the ninth. Rachel Pence took the loss, falling to 8-9, despite her complete-game effort. The scoring started in the top of the third, with Cheyanne head hitting a one out triple to right field. The throw back in was off target, allowing Head to score. Florida Tech (11-16) got the run back in the bottom of the inning. Krista Patterson drew a one out walk and later scored on a single by Makayla Palmer , on a 3-2 pitch out of the hand of Barry starter Christie Falcon. The tie didn’t last long, with Barry getting singles by Kristina Osorio and Maddy VonHagel, followed by a run-scoring doub...

The Florida Tech softball team managed just three hits on Friday against Barry, falling by the score of 5-1. The Panthers have now lost 11 of their last 13 games and they are 0-4 in the Sunshine State Conference. Things looked good early for the Panthers, with starting pitcher Rachel Pence giving up two singles in the top of the first and then going on a run where she retired 10 in a row, between the second and fourth innings. Anieliese Palmeiro started in the circle for the Buccaneers, but she didn’t make it through the second inning. Geneva Santos went the final six innings and picked up the victory. Florida Tech (11-15, 0-4 SSC) gave Pence a run to work with in the bottom of the third when number nine hitter Karina Suicava doubled and later scored on a sac fly by Krista Patterson . The play at the plate was close, but Suicava was called safe and the Panthers were up 1-0. The top of the fifth got off to a rough start for the Panthers when Maddy VonHagel hit a ...

Jordan Majors - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Panthers were bounced from the Sunshine State Conference tournament on Wednesday, losing to number one seed Barry, 87-84 in Miami Shores. The loss ends the Panthers season, with a record of 15-14. Florida Tech were in a dog fight all night long and stood tall against a very high-powered Buccaneers offense. The visitors were especially strong in the first half, shooting 56 percent (14-of-25), including nine three-pointers. Jordan Majors and Patrick Anderson led the Florida Tech attack with 22 points apiece. Antonis Pefanis was 4-of-6 from beyond the arc and finished with 14. Arie Williams triple gave the Bucs a 23-17 lead, but Sam Daniel answered, cutting the lead to three. Daniel finished with 11. Back-to-back threes by Daniel and Jordan Majors tied the game at 26, with 8:05 to go. With the game tied at 33-33, Pefanis came off the bench and hit a triple, giving the Panthers a 36-33 lead. ...

Photo credit: James Ragan Photography Wednesday was a night the Florida Tech Panthers men’s basketball team would like to forget. The Barry Buccaneers put on a clinic from beyond the arc, going 19-for-38 for the game and outgunning the Panthers 103-78. The win improved Barry's home record to 12-0. Last week Florida Tech coach Billy Mims said Barry would be their toughest game of the season and he was correct. The Buccaneers were number one in the region and the number one ranked team in the Sunshine State Conference, going into Wednesday’s game and by the end, they left no doubt. At one point in the contest, the with the Buccaneers up 65-39, Barry had 36 points just on three-pointers, while the Panthers had scored 39 for the game. “They have a lot of great shooters and got looks that other people wouldn’t make against us,” said Mims, in his post-game interview with Jerry Durney. “They looked like the Golden State Warriors. At one point, I thought Steph Curry and K...

Tereza Sedlakova - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech women’s basketball team fell to 1-6 away from home Wednesday, losing to Barry, 66-61 in Miami Shores. The win snapped a nine-game losing streak for the Buccaneers. The Panthers (9-9, 3-7 SSC) made a late charge in the contest, as they were down 59-46 with 4:16 left in the contest before making a 10-0 run, capped by a three-point basket by Tereza Sedlakova . Amanda Allen hit a three earlier in the run. After a couple free-throws by Barry, Kareese Johnson got the Panthers to within three again, 62-59 with 19 seconds left. Barry was able to seal the game from the free-throw line and send Florida Tech home with a tough loss. “I think we played really hard tonight, just some things didn’t fall our way,” said Florida Tech head coach John Reynolds, in his post-game interview with Jerry Durney. “I’m proud of them, I thought we worked hard.” Florida Tech scored the first five points of the conte...

The 16 th ranked Barry Buccaneers handed the Florida Tech Men’s basketball team a sound defeat on Saturday night, 96-84 at the Clemente Center in Melbourne. The Buccaneers (3-0, 2-0 SSC) shot 47.1 percent from behind the arc in the first half, hitting eight of their 17 shots. In the second half, they were only three of 13, but the barrage in the first half was enough to give them the cushion they needed. The Panthers (2-3, 1-1 SSC) went down early in the first half, 12-4, but a three-pointer by Jordan Majors and a dunk by Robert Booth , quickly closed the gap to 12-9. Majors was fouled and hit both shots, closing the gap to one, before Barry widened things again, with a five-point run. The Panthers would get within one a couple more times in the half, but Barry pulled away in the last five minutes of the first half. With 36.4 seconds left, Florida Tech coach Billy Mims was issued two technical fouls after arguing a foul that was given to the wrong player initially....

The Florida Tech Women’s basketball team picked up their first Sunshine State Conference win of the season, with a 65-58 victory over the Barry Buccaneers. The game was tied at four early, but the Panthers went on an 11-point run, to take a 15-4 lead. After expanding the lead to 18-7, Florida Tech watched the Buccaneers rattle off 11 of their own, to tie the game at 18. Julie McCarthy ’s layup at the end of the first quarter, gave the Panthers a 20-18 lead after the first 10 minutes. “It’s a conference game and a big start just means we made our run first,” said Panthers coach John Reynolds. “You know conference teams are gonna make a run right back at ya, leads like that fall apart.” McCarthy had a double-double in this game, with 10 of her 20 points coming in the first half. She also pulled down six offensive boards and 10 on the defensive glass. “I thought Julie was really good today on both ends of the floor,” said Reynolds. “Kiara Palmer is averaging 16 point...

The Florida Tech soccer teams were victimized by surprising results in Tuesday’s opening round of the Sunshine State Conference tournament, with both the men and women dropping their respective games. The men lost to Eckerd, 3-1, while the Barry Buccaneers made their first half goal stand up, against the women. The men’s result was particularly surprising, considering that they had beaten the Tritons twice in the regular season, winning 3-2 on September 17 and 5-1 on October 18. Adin Kavara , who scored three times in the second meeting, scored the only goal for the Panthers on Tuesday, but his goal came in the 81 st minute and only helped his team avoid a shutout. The Panthers (11-4-1, 6-4-0 SSC) outshot Eckerd 16-13, but Tritons goaltender was only forced to make four saves on the night. Panthers backstop Christian Moerch , made five saves in the loss. One save he couldn’t make came at the 30:13 mark when Matheus Assumpcao beat him on a low shot of a pass fro...

Junior Forward Evan Enders gave the Florida Tech Men’s soccer team all the offense they would need, scoring a goal in each half and lifting the Panthers to a 2-0 win over the Barry Buccaneers on Tuesday. Enders got the scoring started at 18:19 of the first half and added his second goal of the night and sixth of the season with 8:23 left in the contest, to give the visitors a 2-0 lead, that would stand up. The first goal was assisted by Junior Josh Thomas , found Enders on a cross and Enders headed it past Barry goaltender Michael Scheraldi. It was one of seven shots that the Panthers took in the first half, to go along with six corner kicks. Enders was not on the field to start the second half, but was re-inserted with 12:32 gone in the second half, taking over for Thomas. Things got a bit heated in the second half, as the Panthers were pushing for an insurance goal. Tobias Hildmann and Fabian Egbele of the Panthers were issued yellow cards 32 seconds apart by...

The Florida Tech Volleyball team is in the midst of a nine-game losing streak, including two losses last week to Lynn and Barry, both on the road. On Thursday September 22, the Panthers fell 3-0 to Lynn, committing 20 hit errors and losing by scores of 25-11, 25-21 and 25-15. Kiersten Rosa , who has had assist totals in the 40’s a couple times this season, was held to 22 in this match, but she added seven digs to lead the team. Kelly Germain led the Panthers with 13 kills, added five digs and blocked two. Jenna Schaffer and Samantha Reeves each contributed four kills and a block. Lynn went on a run that saw them win seven out of eight points in game one and led 13-5 and then went on another eight-point run to go up 22-7. Before winning by 14. Game two saw the Panthers jump out to a 7-4 lead, before the Fighting Knights won four straight points to take the lead. The game went back-and-forth the rest of the way, but Lynn won three of the last four points, to win 2...