Baseball team falls to Polk State College

The Eastern Florida State College baseball team battled Polk State College right down to the last at-bats Tuesday night at Bruce Bochy Field.

The Titans fell to Polk State College 5-2 in the home opener as the Eagles scored three times in the top of the ninth inning.

Eastern Florida State College jumped out to an early lead, taking advantage of a walk and a couple of hitters being hit by a pitch. Gabriel Cruz was hit by a pitch and would later score on a wild pitch. Then Drew Cavanaugh walked and would score on Ryne Wallace's groundout.

Up 2-0, starting pitcher Grayson Adams got out of a jam in the first inning with a strikeout. But Polk State cut the lead in half in the second inning.

After that, Adams retired seven of the final eight hitters he would face. The freshman left-hander tossed four innings, allowing one run and striking out five.

Polk State College tied the game in the fifth inning when Jack Duffy doubled and scored on Nick Collins double.

The game would remain tied until the ninth inning. The inning began with some great defense as Nelson Taylor ripped a double to right field. Zachary Taylor tracked the ball down, hit cutoff man Gabriel Cruz who threw a strike to Jason Blackstone to throw out Taylor for the first inning of the inning.

But Kyle Ericson singled and scored the first run of the inning on a balk call. Then Rohsean Riley drove in two more runs on a double.

Eastern Florida State College (0-3-1) will host the College of Central Florida on Wednesday beginning at 4 p.m.

The College of Central Florida comes into the matchup 1-3 on the season.

Nick Feretic will make his first start for the Titans. Admission is free to games at Bruce Bochy Field and you can watch the game live online at EFSC YouTube page.