After taking two of three games from the Panthers over the weekend at Seminick-Hall Field, the Saint Leo Lions got an 8-2 home win on Tuesday, strengthening their regional ranking as the season winds down.
The loss drops Florida Tech to 27-14, while No. 12 Saint Leo improves to 27-13. Florida Tech managed just six hits in the game, with Brett Parrish going 2-for-4 with a run scored. Saint Leo had 13 hits as a team with two hits each for Buck Anderson, Tyler Trovinger, and Adrien Roa getting two hits each at the top of the lineup. Eddie Nieman and Paul Coumoulos had two apiece as well.
The Panthers got on the board first in the top of the fourth against SLU Charles Lefebvre. Paul Castillo and Jakob Newton hit consecutive singles to put runners at the corners. Parrish hit into a double-play, bringing Castillo home to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead.
Mitch Harding got the start for the Panthers and got through the first three innings unscathed before the home team put five runs on the board in the bottom of the fourth. A single, a walk, and a wild pitch put runners at second and third. Nieman’s RBI single tied the score and a sac fly gave the Lions a 2-1 lead. They would add two runs later in the inning on a two-run single by Zach Benson.
After another hit put runners at the corners, Harding was lifted in favor of Justin Lorenz. Trovinger greeted him with a single, putting Saint Leo up 5-1.
Harding (3-4) was charged with five earned runs on seven hits. He walked two and struck out one. After getting the final out in the fourth, Lorenz was done giving way to Justin Englert in the bottom of the fifth. Englert ran into trouble in the bottom of the sixth, but Danny Vassallo came in and got out of the inning.
Parrish singled off Lefebvre to start the seventh before Dylan Owens reached on an error, ending Lefebvre’s night in favor of Andy Booth. Parrish would later score on a Jack Nagy groundout.
In the bottom of the seventh, Saint Leo answered when Bryan Pena singled home two runs and Buck Anderson knocked in the final run of the night with a single against Panthers reliever Aiden Pryzgoda, giving Saint Leo an 8-2 lead and the eventual victory.
For more info: Florida Tech @ Saint Leo Box Score
The Panthers will look to bounce back on Thursday against Embry-Riddle in Daytona when they start a three-game series against the Eagles. Thursday’s first pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.