Sports Lowdown

Trent Masih - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Panthers opened their final baseball series of the season Friday, with a 5-3 win over the Eckerd Tritons in St. Petersburg. Trent Masih drove in two runs, with an RBI bunt single in the fifth and a solo home run leading off the ninth inning. Reid Neal led the Panthers with a 3-for-4 showing, scoring twice and driving in a run. Dan Szpik , and Ryan Sinzenich joined Masih with two hits.  The Tritons got the scoring started when Tom Buonopane home run in the bottom of the third, against Florida Tech starter Ty Cohen . Neal answered in the top of the fourth with a solo homer, leading off the frame, against Eckerd starter Dillon McCollough . Eckerd (19-29, 8-14 SSC) regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth. After the first two batters reached on singles, Justin Glover drilled a two-run double, giving the home team a 3-1 lead. Florida Tech (29-19, 13-9 SSC) tied things up again in...

Nick Capra - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Panthers came up one hit short of sweeping a doubleheader at Andy Seminick-Les Hall Field on Friday. Instead, the Panthers had to settle for a split with the Embry-Riddle Eagles, winning game one 7-2 and dropping game two in 10 innings, 6-5. FIT was led by Vincenzo Catanza’s 4-for-4 day in game one. Nick Capra chipped in with a three-hit day. They had half of the Panthers 14 hits in that opening game. Grant Willcoxon (3-2) shut Embry-Riddle out through the first five innings, while Eagles starter Aidan Brady matched zeros for three innings, did not allow a run and only gave up three hits before giving way to Austin Lee to start the fourth. That’s when the Panthers offense got going. Dan Szpik reached on an error to start the inning, he moved to third on a single off the bat of Capra. David Wilson grounded out, scoring Szpik with the first run of the day. Ryan Sinzenich followed with an RBI sin...

Ryan Sinzenich - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography  The Florida Tech Panthers lost a non-conference baseball game at Flagler on Tuesday, with the Saints taking the lead in the bottom of the eighth on a hit-by-pitch and hanging on for a 6-5 victory. Grant McKown and Ryan Sinzenich accounted for all the Panthers runs, with a two-run home run and a three-run home run, in the losing cause. Panthers starting pitcher Sam Crocker struggled on this night, giving up five earned runs in 2.1 innings, including two in the first inning. Crocker gave up consecutive singles to Ethan Crout, Dylan Jones and Igor Baez. The Baez single resulted in the first run and a fielder’s choice by Jason Moore. The second inning started much the same way for Flagler, with a Bobby Bassler single. David Drysdale then dropped down a perfect bunt, beating the throw to first. One out later, Crocker watched as a Jones fly ball cleared the right field wall, giving the Saints a 5-0 lead. ...

Ty Cohen (41) took the loss Friday night - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography Florida Tech fell one run short at Palm Beach Atlantic Friday night, losing 5-4 in a regional baseball matchup at Rubin Park, in West Palm Beach. Panthers starter Ty Cohen took the loss, giving up five runs on 10 hits, in five innings of work. Reid Neal , Grant McKown , Ryan Sinzenich and Trent Masih all had two hits for the Panthers in the losing cause. The Sailfish were led by Sean Visconti, who went 3-for-5 with two runs scored. PBA (16-9) landed the first blows, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first. Jake Summy reached on a Neal error, getting all the way to second base. After a Visconti single, Andrew Calderone chased Summy home with the first run and a Peter Rivera RBI single made it 2-0. After leaving three on base in the top of the first, the Panthers were held in check by Sailfish pitcher Josh Turner, until the top of the fifth. James Gronberg walked and stole second...

Grant McKown went 3-for-5 on Tuesday - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Panthers got a big 10-6 victory on Tuesday, against the number 22 Catawba Indians in a Division II baseball clash. The Indians came into the game averaging 10 runs a game and hitting .356 as a team. Panthers starting pitcher Grant Willcoxon held them at bay for the first four innings. “I thought our starting pitching did a great job of setting the tone and executing some quality pitches,” said Panthers coach Greg Berkemeier. "We did a good job of controlling the top of the lineup there. Those guys can really hit. It’s a credit to our staff.” Florida Tech (13-5) got out of the gates quickly, tagging Indians starter Bryan Ketchie for five runs in the first inning. Reid Neal singled with one out and went to third on a perfectly executed hit-and-run by Grant McKown . Daniel Szpik and Ryan Sinzenich hit back-to-back RBI singles and Nick Capra was hit by a pitch to load t...

Nick Capra - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The first game of Sunday’s doubleheader was a forgettable one for Florida Tech, as they fell to Spring Hill, 19-6. After the Panthers pounded out 18 hits in their 13-1 win Saturday, the Badgers matched that number in game one on Sunday. The Panthers came back in game two with an impressive 7-0 victory, thanks in large part to the five scoreless innings thrown by Andy Marzheuser . Tyler Deel (2-1) allowed seven runs in the first two innings Sunday and faced one batter in the third before giving way to Grant Willcoxon who finished the third, but was yanked after facing four batters in the fourth. The Panthers used six pitchers in game one. Spring Hill scored two in the first, before putting five on the board in the second. Conner Harrison’s three run homer highlighted that second inning. Deel pitched two-plus innings allowing seven runs (six earned) on five hits, walked three and struck out five. He threw 70 pitche...