Baseball team earns split Saturday, wins series

The Eastern Florida State College baseball team split a doubleheader Saturday on the road and wins the series against Polk State College.

The Titans, who are now 12-12 in the Citrus Conference, lost the first game of the doubleheader 9-6 but battled back to pick up a 7-4 win in Game 2 to win the series.

In Game 1, starting pitcher Kenneth Robinson struggled and the Titans tried to rally back as Bryce Pax had a two-run single in the fourth to make it 8-3. Then in the sixth inning Bryce Jackson and Jeff Davis each had doubles to start the inning to make it 9-4 and then Shane Thomas singled and Jason Mack walked to load the bases. Davis would score on a Pax walk and then Thomas would score on a groundout to make it 9-6. But the Titans could not get any closer.

Jacob Goldman, David Morrissey and Landen Moore were all solid out of the bullpen.

Pax drove in three runs and Jackson and Davis each had three hits in the loss.

In Game 2, Michael Benedict did a good job of working out of trouble and trailed 1-0 after four innings.

The Titans broke the game open with five runs in the fifth inning highlighted by a key two-run double by Kevin Smith. Eastern Florida State College would add a run in the seventh and eighth inning.

Polk State College scored three times in the seventh inning to cut the lead to 6-4.

Houston Wills pitched the final two innings, striking out five for the save. Smith finished with three hits and drove in three runs.

Eastern Florida State College will be back home on Tuesday evening, hosting Seminole State College in a non-conference game at Bruce Bochy Field. First pitch will be at 6 p.m. and admission is free. The Titans will start a conference series against Daytona State College Thursday on the road