Baseball team tops Indian River State to win series

The Eastern Florida State College baseball team defeated Indian River State College Saturday afternoon to pick up the series win against the Pioneers.

The Titans used strong pitching and some timely hitting to defeat Indian River State College 5-3 at Bruce Bochy Field.

Starting pitcher Pablo Barquero allowed one run on four hits over 6 2/3 innings, striking out seven to pick up his first win of the season.

"He pounds the strike zone with four different pitches, he's pitching inside. He keeps guys off balance and comfortable all day, he competes his butt off," Eastern Florida State College baseball coach Jason Arnold said. "He embodies what a pitcher is and he did a great job today."

Barquero retired 14 of the first 15 hitters and picked off the one hitter who singled without throwing another pitch.

Meanwhile the offense scored a run in the third inning and another in the fourth before breaking it open with three runs in the fifth inning highlighted by Dilan Espinal and Clayton Stanley RBI doubles.

Kevin Silva and Collier Rutledge each had two hits while Espinal drove in two runs for the Titans.

Boris Villa struck out five in two innings and Andres Rodriguez struck out the final batter to pick up his third save.

"I would like a little more consistency but at the end of the day our focus is to win every series and you can't be disappointed when you get the job done and we got it done today," Arnold said.

Eastern Florida State College, who improved to 11-10 overall and 4-2 in the conference, will host Inspiration Academy on Tuesday at Bruce Bochy Field at 6 p.m. and admission is free.