Baseball team ready to open state tournament

The Eastern Florida State College baseball team comes into the FCSAA State Baseball Tournament with some confidence.

The Titans have won the past two games in their final at-bat, including a walk-off victory against St. Petersburg in the Wild Card round to advance to the state tournament.

Eastern Florida State College is the No. 9 seed and will open at 4 p.m. against No. 8 Northwest Florida State at 4 p.m. at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland.

"All that matters is you get here, seeds don't matter. We have the same chance as the other 10 teams," Eastern Florida State College baseball coach Jeff Tam said after beating St. Petersburg. "These guys have put it together at the right time and we just have to get hot."

The Titans boast one of the top hitting teams in Region 8, hitting .318 as a team with seven starters hitting over .320 led by Ian Acevedo who is hitting .410 in 28 games.

First team all-Southern Conference players Sammy Duran is hitting .350 and Jacob McFadden comes in hitting .340 with eight home runs.

On the mound the Titans are led by all-Southern Conference Pitcher of the Year Tommy Romero who is 9-3 with a 1.13 ERA in 14 starts this season.

Northwest Florida State comes into the game with a 32-15 record and has won four of the past five games coming into the tournament. Northwest Florida State was the runner-up in the Panhandle Conference.

The winner of Friday's game will play No. 3 Santa Fe at 1 p.m. Saturday while the loser will play in an elimination game at 7 p.m. All games will be played at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland with the championship game scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. Admission is $10 per day or $25 for a tournament pass.