Titans Allow 5 Runs in Seventh Inning to Lose State Tournament Opener

The Eastern Florida State College baseball team made the No. 1 team in the nation sweat for nearly seven innings Sunday night.

Unfortunately for the Titans, top-seeded Santa Fe College was able to break through for a 6-1 victory over EFSC in the opening round of the NJCAA District/FCSAA Tournament at Henley Field in Lakeland.

The Titans (32-17) will face Central Florida (32-18) at 7 p.m. Monday in an elimination game.

Eastern Florida starting pitcher Jake Walsh was brilliant against a tough Santa Fe lineup. After giving up a run on a double, two walks and an error in the first inning, the Titans' sophomore right-hander shut down the Saints into the seventh inning – including striking out the side in the third inning.

Meanwhile, EFSC tied the game at 1-1 in the fifth inning when Luis Ciuro reached on a two-out error and Ian Lisle and Ruben Garcia followed with hits. A nice slide by Ciuro, just to the outside of home plate, allowed him to beat the tag.

Santa Fe entered the seventh inning with just one hit on the night, but was able to blow the game open with five runs. One pitch after a 3-2 ground ball was allowed to roll foul, Santa Fe's Hugo Valdes hit an opposite field, three-run triple that was nearly caught by the EFSC defense.

Garcia and Vinny Capra each had two hits for the Titans.

"Jake deserved better than the end result," EFSC head coach Jeff Tam said. "He gave up one hit, threw seven, pitched a great game; needed a little help defensively late.

"Great pitching performance. Best I have seen from him all year."

NEWS MEDIA CONTACT: Mark DeCotis, Manager, Athletic Communications

Office: 321-433-5700   Cell: 321-759-4540   Email: decotism@easternflorida.edu