Header Pic: Hayden Kimball – Credit: Florida Tech Athletics
The Florida Tech baseball team got their first win of the season on Friday, beating the Tuskegee Golden Lions 24-2 at Seminick-Hall Field. Florida Tech lost their opener to Rollins on Wednesday and took their frustrations out on Tuskegee, helping new head coach Jeff Tam earn his first win.
Mitch Harding was on the mound for Florida Tech, with Malaki Roberts tossing for Tuskegee. Harding pitched well, but with it being his first start of the season, coupled with the length of the Florida Tech at-bats, he did not qualify for the win.
He pitched four innings, allowing one hit, and did not give up a run. He walked three and struck out six, throwing 82 pitches, 49 for strikes.
The 24 runs were the second-most in program history only behind a 28-run outburst in 2015 against the Benedict Tigers.
Florida Tech (1-1) had 21 hits in the contest with Sam Schner’s 4-for-5 game leading the way. He needed a home run for the cycle and had two shots at it, but he ended the night with an RBI single, his last of four RBIs on the night.
Jakob Newton, Dylan Dohanos, Dylan Owens, Alec Eldridge, Paul Castillo, and Jack Nagy all had two hits each for the home team. Newton had two hits and drove in a game-high five runs.
Dohanos picked up his first RBI in a Florida Tech uniform in the second inning on a groundout and had an RBI single an inning later, his first hit as a Panther. Hayden Kimball hit his first home run as a Panther in a 10-run fifth inning.
After a three-run inning in the second, the Panthers added seven in the third. Newton had a two-run single and Brett Parrish had a two-run triple to go with the Dohanos single in the frame. That made it 10-0.
Roberts (0-1) allowed 10 runs (six earned) in three innings for the Golden Tigers.
Schner tripled in a run and Newton singled him home to make it 12-0 after the fourth inning. The fifth was the big inning for the Panthers on this night, as 10 runs crossed the plate on seven hits. The Golden Lions’ defense contributed to the misery, committing two of their seven errors.
Castillo tripled and came home on an Owens single to start the parade in the fifth. An error allowed Parrish to score and it was 14-0. Eldridge singled home Owens to make it 15-0 and that was followed by the Kimball home run to make it 17-0. After Schner doubled home Nagy to make it 18-0, Luca Wentzel made his Panthers debut pinch-hitting for Castillo and brought Schner home with a single. Austin Sewell was hit by a pitch in his first Florida Tech at-bat to make it 20-0 and the last two runs of the inning came on an error.
Samuel Orozco pitched three innings in relief of Harding, allowing two hits and striking out two. He threw 32 pitches, 23 for strikes in his debut.
Florida Tech added two more runs in the seventh inning to complete their scoring. Tuskegee got their two runs against Florida Tech reliever Andres Tapia. The Golden Tigers got single runs in the eighth and ninth.
Tapia allowed two runs on two hits in his two innings of work. He walked four and struck out three, throwing 58 pitches (31 strikes).
For more info: Tuskegee @ Florida Tech Box Score
The series concludes on Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 1:30 p.m.