Titans Roll Past Indian River, 9-3, 11-0
Sophomore righty Jake Walsh pitched a seven-inning, three-hit shutout to lift Eastern Florida to an 11-0 baseball victory over Indian River State College on Wednesday at Bruce Bochy Field.
Earlier on Wednesday in the completion of a game suspended by weather on March 19, the Titans prevailed 9-3. They beat Indian River 14-12 on Tuesday.
The Titans are now 15-8 in first place in the FCSAA Southern Conference and 31-13 overall. Indian River fell to 5-21 and 10-29.
The victories set the stage for the Titans' crucial home-and-home series with second-place Miami Dade College. They play Friday in Kendall and 1 p.m. Saturday at Bruce Bochy Field. Admission is free.
The Titans close the regular season with a Tuesday-Wednesday home-and-home with Palm Beach State, the first game in Lake Worth and finale on Wednesday at Bruce Bochy Field.
The game will be telecast live on WEFS-TV and streamed at www.efsctitans.com.
The top two finishers in conference advance to the NJCAA District/FCSAA Tournament in Lakeland in May. The third-place team faces a play-in game.
The Titans scored in every inning but the first in the nightcap, rapping out 14 hits. Centerfielder Manny Rodriguez had three hits and four runs batted in.
Designated hitter Gian Jimenez also had three hits and two runs batted in. Sammy Duran and Ian Lisle each had a triple. Lisle scored three times.
Duran, Jimenez, and John Capra each scored twice.
The Titans also turned four double plays and Walsh whiffed five of the final six batters he faced, facing the minimum of 21 batters over seven innings.
So what worked?
"A little bit of everything," Walsh said. "Just competing in the zone was mainly the thing that helped the most. I definitely had really good defense behind which helped a lot. We had four double plays; and, good offense."
Walsh improved to 4-3.
"It's been extremely fun," he said. "The guys we have on this team are incredible. We jelled really well. We play hard. It's a lot of fun.
"There's always room for improvement. Right now we're finally getting on a roll, winning a lot of games. We're getting things done."
The suspended game was resumed in the fifth inning with the Titans leading 5-1. Indian River scored twice in the fifth to make it 5-3.
The Titans struck back with a single run in the seventh inning as Manny Rodriguez scored and put things away in the eighth on pinch-hitter Jay Ciuro's three-run double.
Right-hander Eddie Escribano got the win to move to 4-0.
NEWS MEDIA CONTACT: Mark DeCotis, Manager, Athletic Communications
Office: 321-433-5700 Cell: 321-759-4540 Email: decotism@easternflorida.edu