Baseball team ties Chipola after 13 innings
The Eastern Florida State College baseball team opened the regular season with a marathon game against Chipola College.
The Titans and Chipola battled for 13 innings before the game was called a tie, 6-6 Friday at the Ed Davis Kickoff Classic in Auburndale.
Eastern Florida State College got things started with a bang, scoring four times in the top of the first inning. Carlos Cordero singled and went to third on a Gabriel Cruz single. Cordero scored the first run of the game by stealing home. Ryne Wallace hit a double to score Cruz for a 2-0 lead. Then Ivan Zambrano singled which scored Zachary Taylor. Don McKnight III hit a double that would score Wallace for the fourth run.
Chipola would come storming back with four runs in the bottom of the first inning. But the Titans once again took the lead in the top of the second inning as Cruz stole home to give the Titans a 5-4 lead.
Chipola would take a 6-5 lead in the bottom of the third that would last until the eighth inning.
Eastern Florida State College would tie the game 6-6 when Drew Cavanaugh hit a single that scored Cordero.
The bullpen pitched nine scoreless innings for the Titans as Ridge Skarbeck, Trey Jackson, Eric Garcia and Dylan Dieguez combined for 11 strikeouts and allowed five hits.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Jackson threw 12 pitches before getting the strikeout.
In the 11th inning Chipola had runners on first and third with one out but Dieguez got the ground ball to Cruz at second base who turned the double play.
"Our guys showed unbelievable heart today, competing against one of the top teams in the country," Eastern Florida State College baseball coach Steven Brown said. "The bullpen was outstanding today and played unbelievable defense, Gabby (Cruz) and (Carlos) Cordero turned some nice double plays and (Drew) Stubbs made a slow-rolling bare hand to get an out late in the game. It was good, wish we had gotten the win, but it was good."
Cavanaugh and Cordero each had three hits in the game.
Eastern Florida State College will be back in action Saturday for two games. The Titans will play Santa Fe in a seven-inning game at 1 p.m. and then will play Seminole State College in a nine-inning game at 4 p.m.