Baseball team finishes season with win on the road

The Eastern Florida State College baseball team finished the regular season with a victory over first-place Miami Dade College Saturday afternoon in Miami.

The Titans defeated the Sharks 7-5 to finish the season 25-25-1 overall and 9-12 in the Southern Conference, but ended up one game short of the postseason.

"I am beyond proud of this team and how these guys fought hard to the very end," Eastern Florida State College baseball coach Steven Brown said. "Falling a game short of making the postseason hurts. I know that these kids are going to do big things in their lives."

On Saturday the Titans put pressure on Miami Dade throughout the game as Gabriel Cruz led off with a single, Jason Blackstone laid down a nice bunt for a hit and Ryne Wallace drove in Cruz with a single.

Miami Dade would come back in the bottom of the first inning with three runs but once starter Brian Walters got into a groove, he got the groundout and back-to-back strikeouts to end the first.

Down 3-1, the Titans continued to swing the bats as Jesus Santana singled, Zachary Taylor walked and Andy Valdes reached on an error. That led to RBI singles by Don McKnight III and Wallace as the Titans would score three runs to take a 4-3 lead.

Miami Dade would tie the game in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Valdes gave the Titans the lead with a solo home run to left field to lead off the sixth inning. Dalton Robinson ripped a double to the wall in the seventh inning and scored on Drew Stubbs single to make it 6-4.

While the offense was tacking on runs, the pitchers kept the Miami Dade hitters in check as Walters would finish with five strikeouts over four innings. Dylan Dieguez came in to start the fifth inning and the sophomore allowed two hits in his first four innings, but would run into trouble in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Jackson Woodward came in and got the final three outs for his second save this week.

Wallace finished with three hits in the game while Cruz had two hits and scored twice. Robinson also had two hits in the win.

The Titans finished the season on a three-game winning streak.