Florida Southern pitcher Logan Browning threw seven innings of shutout baseball Friday night, helping the Moccasins to a 15-2 victory at Henley Field in Lakeland. Browning (7-3) was dominant, striking out 11 and walking two, He threw 84 pitches, 52 for strikes.
The Moccasins offense struck early and often against Panthers starter Ty Cohen, who lasted 4.2 innings, allowing 12 runs and 12 hits. Two Florida Tech errors meant that six of the 12 runs were earned. Cohen walked two and struck out three, throwing 67 of his 104 pitches for strikes.
Rodnie Bernard‘s error at short opened the floodgates in the bottom of the first. Austin Mauer hit a two-run home run right after the error and RBI singles from Jacob Teter and Vaun Brown made it 4-0. The final two runs came on a two-run double by Dylan Costa. He was thrown out at third, to end the inning.
Florida Southern (30-4-1, 13-3, SSC) got two more runs in the fourth after another error. Omar Villaman’s RBI single made it 5-0 and a sac fly by Teter gave the home team a six-run advantage.
Things went from bad to worse for the Panthers in the bottom of the fifth. After getting the first two outs, Cohen allowed a double to Cody Burgess, who came home on a single by Pablo Cabrera. After Maurer singled and Villaman walked to load the bases, Jake Buck was called on out of the Panthers bullpen.
Hayden Marze wasted no time as he took one deep over the wall in right-center for a grand slam. Teter was up next and hit a solo shot of his own, as he went back-to-back with Marze, giving the Mocs’ a 14-0 lead.
Florida Tech (14-22, 6-10 SSC) scored both of their runs in the eighth inning, on a sacrifice fly by pinch-hitter Bay McIntosh and an RBI single by Michael Jenks, who was pinch-hitting for Jacob Buser. That was the extent of the Florida Tech scoring.
Buck did finish the game for the Panthers, going 3.1 innings, allowing four hits and three runs. He walked two and struck out three, throwing 52 pitches (29 strikes). He allowed one more run in the bottom of the eighth on a hit-by-pitch.
For more info: Florida Tech @ Florida Southern Box Score
The series wraps up Saturday with a doubleheader. There will be no single game on Sunday, due to impending bad weather. The first pitch of game one is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.