Baseball team earns split, wins series against Hawks

The Eastern Florida State College baseball team opened the Citrus Conference with a series win against Hillsborough Community College on Saturday.

The Titans won the first game 8-2 in seven innings to win the series but a late rally in the third game fell short as Hillsborough CC held on for the 6-5 win.

In the first game of the day, Nathan Hook took the mound and went four strong innings, picking up the victory. A fly ball lost in the sun led to two Hillsborough CC runs in the first inning, but the Titans battled back in the bottom of the third with four runs.

Jason Mack stepped up with the bases loaded and hit a long double that scored three runs and then Mack would score to give the Titans a 4-2 lead.

They would add a run in the fourth, two more in the fifth and one in the sixth for the win.

Shane Thomas went 3-for-3 with a double and drove in two runs while Mack, Kevin Smith and Bryce Pax each had two hits.

Kenneth Robinson came into the game in the fifth inning and finished things with three shutout innings, striking out three.

In Game 2, the Hawks took a 4-1 lead in the second inning and led 6-1 in the sixth inning before the Titans began the comeback.

The Titans would score two runs as Smith and Mack drove in runs to cut the lead to 6-3. Then in the bottom of the ninth inning, Smith came up with a runner on base and launched his third home run over the centerfield wall to cut the lead to 6-5. The Titans continued to rally but could not tie things up as Hillsborough Community College salvaged a game in the series.

Smith had three hits including the home run and a triple while Ethan Askin and Jamel Vera each had two hits.

The Titans will host Palm Beach State College on Monday at 5 p.m. before the start of a conference series against the College of Central Florida.